In this prize-winning portrait of a time and place--Montana in the
1930s--that at once inspires and fulfills a longing for an explicable
past, Ivan Doig has created one of the most captivating families in
American fiction, the McCaskills.
The witty and haunting narration, a masterpiece of vernacular in the
tradition of Twain, follows the events of the Two Medicine country's
summer: the tide of sheep moving into the high country, the capering
Fourth of July rodeo and community dance, and an end-of-August forest
fire high in the Rockies that brings the book, as well as the McCaskill
family's struggle within itself, to a stunning climax. It is a season of
escapade as well as drama, during which fourteen-year-old Jick comes of
age. Through his eyes we see those nearest and dearest to him at a
turning point--"where all four of our lives made their bend"--and
discover along with him his own connection to the land, to history, and
to the deep-fathomed mysteries of one's kin and one's self.