The fountain A novel

The riveting debut by Scieszka sees a 213-year-old woman set out to uncover the cause of her eternal youth so she can finally die in peace. Vera Van Valkenburgh was raised in her family's Catskills home in the late 18th century. At age 26, something happened that rendered her; her older brother, Eli; and their mother immortal. Afraid of alarming their neighbors, the family flees the area in 1826 before going their separate ways. Now, in 2014, Vera returns for the first time, having scored a job as a forest ranger as cover for her mission to reverse her immortality. At a town planning meeting, she learns that a billionaire-funded LLC called Fountain of Eternal Youth has been buying up land in the area. Eli, whom she hasn't seen for nearly two centuries, is also in attendance. It turns out that he's shacked up with the LLC's biochemist, Lydia, who claims in her presentation that she plans to harness the source of immortality as a cure for deadly diseases. As Vera tries to grasp what Eli is up to, she warns Lydia about the danger of her discovery getting into the wrong hands. Scieszka adds gentle humor and romance to the tense plot, as Vera settles into her new life among bougie urban transplants and falls for a rugged local EMT. Readers will find plenty to admire. Agent: Ali Lake, O'Connor Literary. (Mar.)

A young woman returns home to uncover the mysterious cause of a condition that allows her to heal from all diseases and injuries and live indefinitely. Vera Van Valkenburgh is 213 years old but looks just 26 due to a unique condition that has allowed her; her brother, Eli; and their mother to remain unravaged by disease, infirmity, or age. Yet immortality has left Vera with a simple wish: to be "released into the nothingness" of death. In this immersive mystery-cum-fantasy, Scieszka follows Vera, now a park ranger, to the Catskills, where she begins her search for answers in the environment--and especially the water--around her hometown, a place she hasn't been in 188 years. She rents a living space with the young couple who now own her family's old farm and learns that a well-funded company called Fountain of Eternal Youth LLC is buying up properties all over the small community. When company's chief executive visits, Vera is shocked to see him with her brother and a longevity researcher named Lydia Kirke, a woman who knew Eli's first wife. Part of what makes the narrative so compelling is not just the deft turns of plot and interwoven themes of love, family, and belonging but the way the author contrasts Vera's profound struggles over never knowing the peace of death with one man's desire to profit from longevity without knowing the true costs of immortal life. As psychologically rich as it is philosophically probing, Scieszka's book offers readers a heady blend of imagination, mystery, and finely crafted storytelling. A provocative novel that incisively explores the question of what makes a meaningful life. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.