In 1899 Jeremy, a young engineer, leaves a small town in Maine to oversee the construction of a railroad across East Africa. In charge of hundreds of Indian laborers, he soon finds himself the reluctant hunter of two lions that are killing his men in almost nightly attacks on their camp. Plagued by fear, wracked with malaria and alienated by a secret he can tell no one, he takes increasing solace in the company of the African who helps him hunt.

In 2000 Max, an American ethnobotonist, travels to Rwanda in search of an obscure vine that could become a lifesaving pharmaceutical. Stationed in the mountains, she closely shadows a family of gorillas, the last of their group to survive the encroachment of local poachers. Max bears a striking gift for understanding the ape's non-verbal communication, but their precarious solidarity is threatened as a violent rebel group from the nearby Congo draws close.

“Against a backdrop of punishing nature and menacing warlords, Schulman meticulously explores the inner lives of her characters, as both Jeremy and Max are forced to weigh the effects of their work on the land they have begun to love.”
— New Yorker
“All of this, combined with Schulman’s skill in shaping a narrative and her disciplined prose, makes the novel something of a page-turner, and a fascinating study of the wonder and terror of life in this world.”
— National Post (Canada)
“The combined result is a beautifully written novel about extraordinary people struggling to create for themselves ordinary worlds.”
— Minneapolis Star Tribune
“The way the two stories come together is unexpected, absolutely original, believable and so beautifully told that the reader leaves the book feeling amazed and completely satisfied.”
— Shelf Awareness
“Audrey Schulman’s gripping new novel, “Three Weeks in December,’’ tells the alternating stories of two people, a century apart, locked in a struggle not just with the wildness that surrounds them, but that lies within them... Schulman’s prose propels us through these poignant stories.”
— Boston Globe
“The story holds one’s attention from the opening line, keeps us eagerly anticipating the next chapter, and makes sure we enjoy the journey to the very end. The finale is also quite unexpected, a climactic surprise that no matter how many scenarios you envision ahead of time, you will never guess this one. Kudos to Audrey Schulman for a literary feat well done.”
— New York Journal of Books
“Two mesmerizing tales based on historical fact and enlivened by sympathetic, fully formed characters... This beautiful novel deserves wide readership.”
— Library Journal
“Genuinely passionate about both the cause of African wildlife and the sensory experience of Africa, which Schulman brings to tactile life.”
— Kirkus
“Schulman creates a remarkably fresh, complex and memorable character... Max’s adventure would be enough to fill any book... Schulman delivers the known world in startling new sounds, colors, tastes and smells.”
— New York Times Sunday Book Review
“Deftly weaving the forays of two individuals, separated by a century, into the unknown heart of Africa... she yields her story’s mysteries slowly, with evident relish. ”
— Publishers Weekly
“Evoking both Barbara Kingsolver and Andrea Barrett, this enthralling fiction, wise and generous, explores some of the crucial social and cultural challenges that, over the years, have come to shape our world.”
— GoodReads
“The two stories blend in seamlessly with one another, creating counter tensions that are parallel with one another within a fast-paced narrative that becomes compulsive reading. ”
— Charles R. Larson, Emeritus Professor of Literature, American Univ., CounterPunch

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