In the decade following the horrible depression of the 2020s, hard work and determination have brought a sense of security to Anne Hartford and her extended family. Finally, no one on the estate experiences hunger, everyone has a warm bed and the children receive a good education. Theresidents of the U.S. metropolitan areas may not fare as well. A nation that so recently experienced hunger and deprivation could be devastated again, if rumors of government trading of precious agricultural commodities prove to be true. A diminished population has caused government, private industry and the military to compete for labor. In looking at the rich fields of the Ashwood estate, Anne Hartfords greatest concern is finding people who can harvest the crops in 2037, now that government-assigned labor is no longer available. Suddenly, Annes husband is abducted while on a Department of Energy trip to South American. A strange bureaucrat arrives at Ashwood, allegedly to manage media interests. Dual scandals rock her family as well as the country, posing troubling questions about the rights of children, the role of big government and the self-determination of individuals. Harvesting Ashwood: Minnesota 2037 is a provocative story told in the speculative fiction tradition of George Orwell.

The Ashwood trilogy ends three decades after failure of the global economy. The big question is answered. If world leaders had the opportunity to build from scratch, what would happen? At the half point of the twenty-first century, corporate spinners say: "The vote of a shareholder is a commitment to building a better world, while the vote of a citizen is an uneducated guess."

Combining elements of The Handmaid s Tale and Jane Eyre, Ashwood presents a vision of the future that is familiar and chilling (with an energy crisis and food shortage just part of its dystopian vision). Its protagonist Matron Ann takes her place among classic tales where the heroine battles the forces of evil, deciphers friend from foe, solves a mystery, risks her life and unexpectedly finds love. The result is a swiftly paced page turner.