Ten years ago, a pregnant seventeen-year-old, Angela Joy Palladino, fled her hometown, Scotia, West Virginia, as a pariah. Over time, AJ succeeded in establishing herself as an environmental activist, dubbed “The People’s Champion,” only to be forced to retreat from the spotlight in the wake of a crushing media disaster.
When AJ is offered a job with a lawyer who is crusading against mountaintop removal mining, she is torn. As a single mother of a special-needs nine-year-old boy, AJ can use any work she can get. But doing so will mean returning to the West Virginia hometown she left in disgrace so long ago.
Upon arriving in Scotia, AJ learns of the sudden death of the lawyer who hired her. Soon after joining forces with his daughter, Elizabeth, threats begin to surface, bodies begin to pile up, and AJ discovers that her own secrets aren’t the only ones her mountain hometown has kept buried. Hitting rock bottom, AJ must face the betrayal of those once closest to her and confront the harrowing past she thought she had left behind.
In Rock Bottom, Erin Brockovich combines passionate intensity, first-rate storytelling, and her real-life experiences in a novel that will leave you breathless.

From environmental activist, renowned crusader, champion fighter, maverick—a book that looks at our present situation with water and shows us how we can each take action to make changes in our cities, towns, and villages, before it is too late.

“Brockovich is a vocal, no-nonsense writer–Roberts might even have downplayed her fire in the movie … The tales she tells show how addressing water issues at the source can make a big difference all the way down the chain.”–Heather Hansman, Outside

“Brockovich urges people to continue to fight for what they believe in … [Her] belief in individual activism–rather than relying on leaders, corporations, or the government to handle the water crisis–is the guiding theme in her new book … inspirational.”–Sam Gillette, People

In Erin Brockovich’s long-awaited book—her first to reckon with conditions on our planet—she makes clear why we are in the trouble we’re in, and how, in large and practical ways, we each can take actions to bring about change.

She shows us what’s at stake, and writes of the fraudulent science that disguises these issues, along with cancer clusters not being reported. She writes of the saga of PG&E that continues to this day, and of the communities and people she has worked with who have helped to make an impact. She writes of the water operator in Poughkeepsie, New York, who responded to his customers’ concerns and changed his system to create some of the safest water in the country; of the moms in Hannibal, Missouri, who became the first citizens in the nation to file an ordinance prohibiting the use of ammonia in their public drinking water; and about how we can protect our right to clean water by fighting for better enforecement of the laws, new legislation, and better regulations. She cannot fight all battles for all people and gives us the tools to take actions ourselves, have our voices heard, and know that steps are being taken to make sure our water is safe to drink and use.