A sweeping novel of family, memory, scientific risk, and one remarkable woman determined to understand what her life has meant before she leaves it behind.
At Anilda Lodge in western Maine, Clarice Brannen Vishnekova stands at the center of a world she helped build: a world of family obligation, scientific ambition, artistic triumph, private secrets, and unfinished reckonings.
The 45th Parallel follows Clarice and the people drawn into her orbit as they confront the costs of memory, the promise and danger of innovation, and the question that waits at the edge of every life: what remains after us?
BookLife Reviews praises The 45th Parallel as "an engaging mix of science and history, buoyed by a distinctive lead," noting that Clarice's history, obsessions, and the revelations that emerge from her remarkable life are what make the novel truly stand out.
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“A sprawling tale of adventure, sadness, mystery, humor, the cost of doing one’s duty, and triumph.”
– Paul Peppin, publisher, retired psychotherapist and health care consultant
About the author
David F. Paxton is the author of The 45th Parallel. He lives in coastal West Michigan and has worked as a health system administrator, public school teacher, short story writer, wild land and Great Lakes tripper, and professional musician. To say that Paxton’s debut novel, The 45th Parallel, was inevitable is an understatement. In fact, he said, his “magnum opus” is nothing short of a lifetime achievement, with more than 20 years of writing behind it (and nearly 40 of lived experience). Per Paxton, it all began with a promise he made to his mother. “She knew that I had a long story waiting inside, and I assured her that I would strive to write it someday,” he said. That day arrived on a January hilltop in Portland, Maine, in 2003, where and when the first chapter’s people and places come alive. As Paxton explained, his parents were assigned to New England during much of World War II; a region where he would, rather serendipitously, go on to live with his wife. This setting, combined with his lifelong interest in the interplay between science and literature, created the perfect writing storm through which The 45th Parallel and its defining characters ultimately materialized.
