Anthill: A Novel

by Chris Hubbard, Education Director

I’m always looking for a good book to read, and recently Liz handed me one she recommended: Anthill: A Novel by E. O. Wilson. An American biologist, naturalist and myrmecologist (ant specialist), Wilson’s debut work of fiction was published in 2010. After my delving into a number of non-fiction works, a novel was a welcome change, and I soon found the book echoing our mission statement, of promoting curiosity, love, and responsibility towards natural and working lands.

Set in fictional Nokobee County, Alabama, E. O. Wilson reimagines his younger self in Raphael Semmes Cody, or “Raff.” Raff spends time with his family, and then on his own, exploring the Nokobee Tract, an ancient and biologically rich longleaf pine savanna that remains close to its original state, untainted by man. His childhood curiosity leads him to investigate the creatures, large and small that inhabit the land. That curiosity turns into love of the land he intimately comes to know, as we watch Raff grow from a young boy to a young man heading off to college. That love turns to responsibility has he, at the urging of his uncle, heads to law school, with his eye at protecting his beloved Nokobee Tract.

Wilson weaves three parallel worlds that exist in the same time and place, as we read Raff’s senior thesis, “The Anthill Chronicles,” a view into the lives of ants from the ants’ point of view. He writes of the human world that Raff inhabits, from family dynamics and history to the conflicting views of if and how land should be or should not be developed. Finally, he explores the overarching biosphere we must all live in, and how our actions can imperil the fragile ecosystems we are so dependent on.

I think you’ll enjoy the read. Settle into a comfortable chair and come along through its twists and turns, through the edge-of-your-seat scenes, and through the rise and fall of empires. You won’t be disappointed.