Magpie is driving the back roads of Washington to the annual Barter Faire on the Starry Night bus with a young girl in her charge when she sees a stranger limping down the dirt road with his dog. He boards the bus with a sprained ankle, three broken ribs and a dark secret. A secret he will keep until the Walla Walla State Penitentiary is far behind him. Angeline is a tattoo artist on her way to Utopia, Oregon with her entomologist husband. When she meets up with Magpie and her bus full of eccentric characters, Angeline finds herself drawn to the Barter Faire and a dangerous criminal. Utopia, Oregon is a story of freedom that explains how a small girl can be a healer, paints a picture of the community that exists in a rural Barter Faire, and reveals the language of insects. It also explains the existence of the Starry Night bus.


Eileen Pinkerton grew up in the Northwest and is living in Washington State where she attended her first Giant Insect Contest in 2009. This is her first novel.