The Gatepost - by Tim Weed (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

From the author of The Afterlife Project: One woman's quest to find her father pushes her beyond the boundaries of space, time, and the human mind.

Esme Weatherhead was twelve years old when her father, an amateur scientist and the author of a bestselling book on Mesoamerican shamanism, walked into the forest on their rural Vermont property and never came back. Twenty years later, she quit her job in San Francisco, got divorced, and moved back home with the goal of writing a book about her father's life and sudden vanishing.

In the course of her research, Esme uncovers an old field journal that describes a cave on the property she hadn't known about, experiments involving high doses of psilocybin mushrooms, and a series of strangely vivid hallucinations. After searching unsuccessfully for the cave, she hires Lucas St. Pierre, a local geologist, to help her find it.

Now, as they work to unravel the mystery of her father's disappearance, Esme and Lucas must confront hidden forces that will test their sanity and put their safety at risk, ultimately leading to new insights about love, death, and the enduring resilience of life on Earth.

Perfect for fans of Susanna Clarke's Piranesi, Emily St. John Mandel's Sea of Tranquility, and Richard Powers's Bewilderment, Tim Weed's The Gatepost blends modern science and ancient cosmology to take readers on a journey offering hallucinatory glimpses into worlds beyond our own.

Review Quotes

"At its heart, The Gatepost is a story about a daughter's relentless love for her father, but Weed wraps that search in layers of Mesoamerican cosmology, hallucinogenic wonder, and quantum possibility. He writes with the precision of a scientist and the soul of a shaman, pulling readers through underground worlds both geological and mythological. A wild, luminous ride." --Crystal King, bestselling author of The Happiness Collector

"This spellbinder from Weed . . . is sure to entertain." --Publishers Weekly

"A hallucinatory thriller is a fascinating concept, and the plot is a treat. . . . A compellingly trippy journey." --Kirkus Reviews

Praise for Tim Weed's The Afterlife Project

"Smart, achingly beautiful, and (yes) important: a gripping novel of climate cataclysm with a cast of characters I cared about deeply." ―Chris Bohjalian, #1 New York Times-bestselling author of The Flight Attendant

"A super-smart, super-fun page-turner about a scientist trying to survive alone on Earth in the deep future―and the love of his life trying to travel through time to find him. I can't think of a single page that didn't make me pause to admire a sentence, an image, or a particularly fascinating idea. I loved this book." ―Angie Kim, New York Times-bestselling author of Happiness Falls

"The Afterlife Project isn't just a story about the end of the world as we know it―it's an exploration of beauty, and love, and hope in the darkness. If you were a fan of Cloud Atlas, you won't want to miss this one." ―Janelle Brown, New York Times-bestselling author of What Kind of Paradise

"This beautiful and heartbreaking book reminds us of what we have, and what we stand to lose. Unforgettable." ―Danielle Trussoni, New York Times-bestselling author of The Puzzle Master

"Riveting and wrenching and suffused with beauty." ―Peter Heller, bestselling author of The Dog Stars

"Weed is a fabulous storyteller working at the top of his game. I predict this novel will become a classic." --Joseph Monninger, author of The World As We Know It

"It's a relatively simple idea, but Tim Weed makes it into something special with first-rate nature writing and a story that underlines how connected we all are to our human and physical environment--which can be a source of resilience even as everything falls apart." --The Toronto Star

"The writing . . . is as lush and beautiful as the far-future Earth itself . . . The Afterlife Project provides a thought-provoking look at how beautiful the world could be without anyone like us in it." --_Washington Independent Review of Books _

"Rousing seafaring adventure . . . contemplative musings on life . . . [and] a compelling romance make this a fascinating tale that is difficult to put down." --Library Journal, starred review

"A tale that feels wholly original and movingly conveys the full weight of the circumstances while providing a riveting read in the process." --BookLife by _Publishers Weekly _

"This engaging dystopian tale deftly blends enthralling fiction with real-life fears." --_Kirkus Reviews _

"The dangers [the characters] endure along the way are set against an unfolding and impossible love story across the vastness of geological time, as the scientists work to keep humans in existence. It may sound like an end-of-the-world tale, but it defines the strength and bravery of human beings and what they will do to preserve this precious thing we call life in the face of overwhelming odds." --Middlebury Magazine (Editors' Pick)

"A dark yet hopeful story that is engrossing enough to be a beach read . . . Weed reminds us why cli-fi matters." _--Seven Days _

"A dystopian masterwork" --The Brattleboro Reformer

"This genre-defying novel blends literary fiction, climate science, and speculative imagination in a haunting narrative that spans millennia." --The Vermont Journal

About the Author

Tim Weed is the author of The Gatepost, A Field Guide to Murder & Fly Fishing, Will Poole's Island, and The Afterlife Project, which was named a best book of 2025 by Library Journal and the Toronto Star. He serves on the core faculty of the Newport MFA for creative writing and is the cofounder of the Cuba Writers Program. Weed spent the first part of his career leading educational travel programs around the globe and was a featured expert for National Geographic Expeditions. He lives in rural Vermont with his family and three disobedient cats. To learn more, visit www.timweed.net.