"This powerful book has much to say about the 1950’s West, and says
it beautifully and hopefully. I think followers of Kent Haruf, Jim
Harrison, or Molly Glass will especially enjoy it.
The story is about 23-year-old Catherine Lemay who,
fresh from an archeological dig in London, is selected by the
Smithsonian to investigate an immense Montana canyon and document any
ancient relics before it is flooded by construction of a dam. Leaving
behind dismayed parents and a fiancee – she is supposed to be at
Cambridge seriously studying music – and ill-prepared by her Eastern
upbringing, she is at first unsure how to approach this scientific
undertaking. Eventually her knowledge of riding and horses becomes
useful and gives her confidence. And her honest naivete endears her to
some of the locals, who one-by-one take her under their watchful eye.
She and her newfound friend and Crow guide, Miriam,
set off on horseback to explore the canyon, not expecting to find much
of anything – least of all relics nor ancient rock glyphs; not wild
horses nor horse wranglers … and certainly not love. But each does find a
kind of love, in her own way.
This story has so much about it that I loved: an
intelligent protagonist, horses and horse whisperers, rich characters
that you come to know well, all set in the broad landscape of a West
full of promise. A promise that ripples throughout the entire story not
unlike a breeze through quaking aspens.
All in one read – and simply lovely."
--Judy S,
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