Loveland Writer Claire Boyles Publishes Farming Novel Appraisals

Claire Boyles spent her career writing about the land. Now, she’s writing about losing it.

Her debut novel, Appraisals, hit shelves in August 2026. It’s a story set on Colorado’s Eastern Plains during the Great Recession. The plot follows a family of small-scale vegetable farmers. Three perspectives drive the narrative.

Maggie is the farmer. She’s idealistic. She believes in local foodsheds and regenerative agriculture. Then there’s her husband, Fish. After a long stretch of unemployment, he takes a job with an oil and gas company. That move alienates Maggie. It also alienates their teenage daughter, Ozzie.

The third voice belongs to Flora. She’s Maggie’s grandmother. At 90 years old, she’s reacting to the sale of the farm she lost during the 1980s Farm Crisis. The buyer is a mysterious rich outsider. Flora starts reconsidering how to live her remaining years. This leads her toward "light monkeywrenching" and environmental protests with Ozzie.

Boyles isn’t just spinning a fictional tale. She’s drawing from her own life. She’s a former farmer. She split time between Loveland, Colorado, and Ames, Iowa. In Ames, she served as an assistant professor of creative writing and the environment at Iowa State University.

Before Appraisals, she had a solid track record. She won a 2022 Whiting Award in fiction. Her previous work, Site Fidelity, took home the High Plains Book Award. Her nonfiction showed up in Sierra Magazine and Virginia Quarterly Review. She even worked as a screenwriter for the Hallmark Channel.

The inspiration for Appraisals came from her own lineage as a woman farmer. She lived on her grandparents’ fruit farm in Ohio until she was eight. Her grandmother, Lois, ran that farm. Lois was the first woman Boyles ever saw drive a tractor. When Boyles and her husband started their own farm in 2008, her grandparents gave them that same tractor. It was a 1952 Allis Chalmers CA tricycle. Boyles notes that the tractor, which they called Allis, gets a cameo in the book.

They grew vegetables and specialty cut flowers. They raised chickens, turkeys, and hogs. They built a strong community of market customers and Community-Supported Agriculture members. But the housing crash of the Great Recession hit hard. It left them deep underwater on their mortgage. They couldn’t recover from the loss of access to credit.

In 2013, they sold the farm at a loss. They barely avoided bankruptcy and foreclosure. During that time, Boyles became fascinated with land management. She looked at how external forces like resource extraction and economic distress play out.

Boyles writes with a focus on her characters. She doesn’t shy away from complex issues. She lets the reader see the strain on a family. She shows the tension between idealism and survival. The book captures the specific reality of small-scale farming in the East. It’s a look at what happens when the money runs out.

Appraisals is a study in resilience. It’s about holding on when everything is slipping away. Boyles brings her own experience to the page. She knows what it feels like to be underwater. She knows the weight of a mortgage. She knows the feeling of selling at a loss.

Appraisals is a reminder that farming is more than growing food. It’s a lifestyle. It’s a commitment. It’s a bet. And sometimes, that bet doesn’t pay off.

The novel is a must-read for anyone interested in Colorado agriculture. It’s also a great choice for fans of literary fiction. Boyles delivers a powerful performance.

She stays true to her characters. She lets them speak for themselves. She trusts the reader to understand. And she succeeds.

Appraisals is a success. It’s a win for Boyles. And it’s a win for readers.

The book is available now. Check it out.