Thatcher and Mary continue to bond, drawn together by their similar outlooks on life and interest in science and the natural world. He defends the methods during two public debates, but the town leaders persuade the public to continue adhering to traditional beliefs and scientific teaching methods. Thatcher, who lives next door to Mary and has befriended her, is drawn into the debate because he supports and wants to teach the controversial theories, which many believe upend traditional Christian beliefs about creation. In the newly founded and rapidly growing Vineland, debate swirls around the use of scientific theories regarding evolution and natural selection in Vineland’s schools. The family-the couple and Rose’s sister and mother-returns to Vineland and the house that Rose’s father built, which is unsound and begins crumbling around them. Thatcher has recently married a young woman he met in Boston, Rose, whose family used to live in Vineland before her father died. With history as their tantalizing canvas, these characters paint a startlingly relevant portrait of life in precarious times when.

The novel’s other storyline takes place in 1875-1876 and is centered on Thatcher, Vineland’s newly hired high school science teacher. The novel explores themes of family, marriage, science in society, social justice issues, overcoming personal challenges, and new possibilities. Unsheltered is the compulsively readable story of two families, in two centuries, who live at the corner of Sixth and Plum in Vineland, New Jersey, navigating what seems to be the end of the world as they know it.

Unsheltered book summary