FALLOW GROUND

A disembodied “voice of God” is the last thing Lisa Ann O’Kane expects to hear while lying spread-eagled on an infertility exam table. As the daughter of an environmental biologist, she traded prayers for science books long ago. Even so, the message arrives with brutal clarity: When are you going to get the hint, Lisa? Motherhood is not in the cards for you.

Moving through the wilderness of Florida and Alaska to the intimate terrain of marriage, grief, and embodiment, Fallow Ground traces a four-year reckoning with childlessness. Blending ecological observation with unflinching self-examination, it explores rupture, identity, and the delicate work of building a life when the one you’ve planned refuses to take root.