The beloved memoir of a woman making her life anew in the open spaces of Montana.
In
1959, writer and filmmaker Annick Smith came to Montana with her
husband and their boys, looking for land and refuge. Her collection is
a loving description of the West today and an eloquent plea for its
preservation.
Quotes:
“A joyous celebration of wilderness.”—Publishers Weekly
“These
are clear-sighted, alluring, often genuinely luminous essays, by a
writer for whom the form seems as natural as speaking.”—Richard Ford
“Here
is a woman to admire and love. 'You can fall in love with space and
sky,' Annick Smith writes. 'A girl from Chicago can go West and find
mountains.' In Homestead Smith gives us the whole vivid Montana scene:
ranchers, wildlife biologists, poets and country bands, good neighbors,
horses and trout. . . . A passionate story, beautifully told.”—Annie
Dillard
“Smith's powerful memoir chronicles her husband's early
death, the raising of her four boys and the majesty of the land.
Perfect for those who live rugged country and understand that wild
places own us more than we own them.”—US News and World Report
“Homestead
makes a wonderful addition to the growing body of Western women's
memoirs. The view is excellent, the air and water clear. And you will
find your visit with Annick Smith to be truly worthwhile.”—Journal of
the West
“One of Smith's best essays is on state cattle
inspectors, who keep track of the 57,000 brands now recorded in
Montana; another good one describes life on the Big Blackfoot, made
famous in Norman Maclean's A River Runs Through It which Smith
helped to adapt for the screen.”—Los Angeles Times
“Smith's
gorgeously written memoir explores a woman's hard-won intimacy with her
adopted state. . . . A student of western history and folk culture, Smith
illuminates not only her own journey, but also the lives of Montana's
cattlemen, American Indian inhabitants, range detectives,
country-and-western bands, and the disheartening ‘new economy of
tourism, golf courses, and condos.' Bracing as a mountain stream,
Homestead is saturated with an acute feeling for place, the values of
community, and the power of wilderness to sustain and transform our
lives.”—Outside
