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Lookout
Set in rural Montana, Lookout centers on the dual coming-of-age of a girl and her father amid the natural and cultural forces that shape their family.
Lookout tells the story of the Kinzlers, a working-class family firmly rooted in Northwest Montana. Set beneath big skies and spanning four decades, Lookout is an unvarnished look at contemporary life in the rural mountain west, and the interior worlds of people who are different than their surfaces imply. Josiah & Margaret Kinzler have forged an unusual bond that honors both tenderness and solitude; their daughters, Cody and Louisa, grow up watching their parents navigate what it means to be true to yourself, and what that costs.
The core of the book is a dual coming-of-age: Cody’s from stoic ranch kid to a resilient woman learning to lean on others, and Josiah’s as he struggles to thrive in a world that has misunderstood him. Bound by their love of the land, the Kinzlers work to bridge the gaps created by the secrets they keep from one another. Lookout brings to life a family at home in a nuanced American West, at the conjunction of the outer world with inner lives.
Lookout tells the story of the Kinzlers, a working-class family firmly rooted in Northwest Montana. Set beneath big skies and spanning four decades, Lookout is an unvarnished look at contemporary life in the rural mountain west, and the interior worlds of people who are different than their surfaces imply. Josiah & Margaret Kinzler have forged an unusual bond that honors both tenderness and solitude; their daughters, Cody and Louisa, grow up watching their parents navigate what it means to be true to yourself, and what that costs.
The core of the book is a dual coming-of-age: Cody’s from stoic ranch kid to a resilient woman learning to lean on others, and Josiah’s as he struggles to thrive in a world that has misunderstood him. Bound by their love of the land, the Kinzlers work to bridge the gaps created by the secrets they keep from one another. Lookout brings to life a family at home in a nuanced American West, at the conjunction of the outer world with inner lives.
326 pages, Paperback
First published March 14, 2023
9 people are currently reading
323 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
March 17, 2023
I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
The publisher's summary states that this novel "centers on the dual coming-of-age of a girl and her father," but the other characters are all strongly written and can barely be considered secondary. Full of tender and truthful dialogue, this book is both light and full of love as well as achingly sad and heavy. I have been turning this story over and over in my mind the last few days, trying to think of how I will do it justice with a review. I will keep it short and say it is one of the most beautiful stories I've ever read. Take your time with this quiet book and you will be greatly rewarded.
Come chat with me about books here, too:
Blog | Instagram
The publisher's summary states that this novel "centers on the dual coming-of-age of a girl and her father," but the other characters are all strongly written and can barely be considered secondary. Full of tender and truthful dialogue, this book is both light and full of love as well as achingly sad and heavy. I have been turning this story over and over in my mind the last few days, trying to think of how I will do it justice with a review. I will keep it short and say it is one of the most beautiful stories I've ever read. Take your time with this quiet book and you will be greatly rewarded.
Come chat with me about books here, too:
Blog | Instagram
February 26, 2023
This follows the Kinzler family on their Montana homestead or ranch but this not what I would consider a ranch or cowboy story that you might perceive from the cover. There is Josiah, husband and father who seems to be good at most anything he touches with his hands especially when it comes to wood. Margaret wife and mother who is a loving and understanding wife. Older daughter Louisa who is a looker and a reputation in school and Cody who is spitting image of her father in many ways including work ethic. Each chapter is told by a family member or by friends and neighbors of the family. As you will see Josiah and Margaret have a unique living arrangement and this lays some undertones as you read through the story. I had concerns that this was a type of story that would not come full circle that the author would leave it for you to speculate on, but she does a great job in bringing the story full circle and answering questions you may ended up with. In my opinion this is the type of read that you pullout on a snowy cold day and you curl up in front of your fireplace and read the day away or at least it makes you feel that way after reading it.
March 8, 2024
Exquisite and moving, I highly, highly recommend .
April 24, 2023
'Lookout' is Christine Byl's first novel, and an ode to alterity. Whether it's an evocative vignette about the way that a familar backyard trail can turn into something foreign and uncanny, or a tender, generational exploration of a wounded, haunted, beloved father figure... or even the inward grappling with the strangeness at the core of the self, Byl is a humanistic, empathetic steward of the human condition. Set in pre-postmodern Montana, 'Lookout' feels organic and visceral. I want to sit on the dry outer stoop with these characters and smell the Ponderosa and wood shavings. Magnificent.
November 25, 2024
Introducing Homemade Literary Fiction.
By letting the woodgrain show, debut novelist Christine Byl draws readers into a beautifully-crafted portrait of a family coming apart as a child finds her way.
Charles H. Lustig (Note: This is from my Substack blog. Byl is a first-rate novelist the world has yet to discover.)
Nov 21, 2024
This month’s ExcitingWriting Advisory is devoted to discussing the work of an exciting, new novelist, Christine Byl and her debut novel, Lookout.*
It’s a Western story about an independent-minded nine-year-old girl, Cody Kinzler, growing up in rural Montana, and about her family, an older sister and two parents, all of whom are strong, independent people whose search for authenticity and love causes them, not only to grow, but to grow apart from their loved ones as we watch.
My essay about this excellent novel. If you'd like to read it, look it up on Substack under "Charles Lustig's Substack."
*Note: Lookout was published in 2023 by A Strange Object, an imprint of Deep Vellum, located at 3000 Commerce Street, Dallas, TX 75226.
By letting the woodgrain show, debut novelist Christine Byl draws readers into a beautifully-crafted portrait of a family coming apart as a child finds her way.
Charles H. Lustig (Note: This is from my Substack blog. Byl is a first-rate novelist the world has yet to discover.)
Nov 21, 2024
This month’s ExcitingWriting Advisory is devoted to discussing the work of an exciting, new novelist, Christine Byl and her debut novel, Lookout.*
It’s a Western story about an independent-minded nine-year-old girl, Cody Kinzler, growing up in rural Montana, and about her family, an older sister and two parents, all of whom are strong, independent people whose search for authenticity and love causes them, not only to grow, but to grow apart from their loved ones as we watch.
My essay about this excellent novel. If you'd like to read it, look it up on Substack under "Charles Lustig's Substack."
*Note: Lookout was published in 2023 by A Strange Object, an imprint of Deep Vellum, located at 3000 Commerce Street, Dallas, TX 75226.
February 22, 2024
One of the most beautifully written books I had read in some time. The chapters each have their own feel and progression, and the language is beautiful throughout. Be forewarned, it is book that may make you cry--and probably not for the reasons you expect at the beginning.
March 16, 2024
It took a bit for this book to really grip me, but I loved the back half as the characters really got fleshed out
July 15, 2025
What does it mean to make a good life in the New American West (Northwestern Montana, 1985 to 2009): “How old do you think you have to be to have peace of mind?” asks the girl of her father, both pictured on the sepia cover. “Did you ever wish you had a son?” she asks him another time. “Are you scared?” she asks a firefighter later on. What’s of “any value” in life? An old friend contemplates. How would you describe your safe place? Jade, the family’s dog, imagines it’s our notion of “happiness.”
Remarkably told through sixteen voices, including a third-person narrator, Lookout is an eloquent accounting of an “old Montana” family of four – the Kinzlers. It’s not an easy feat to switch around, repeatedly, who’s doing the telling. The effect is more expansive, clarifying, and intimate. First-rate storytelling delivered not in fancy prose, but from the heart. Nostalgic hearts, darkened hearts, sad hearts, loving hearts, compassionate hearts, angry hearts, grieving hearts, maturing hearts, praising hearts, flawed hearts, lonely hearts, earthbound hearts.
A novel I wish I could put into the hands of every reader.
The last time an old-fashioned storytelling novel made such a profound impression was William Kent Krueger’s This Tender Land. My copy came with a Dear Reader letter stating, “I’ve poured the best of myself into this story.” That’s what it feels Christine Byl has done.
She’s funneled six years of life experiences spent in Northwestern Montana, in the proximity of Glacier National Park where the novel is set (today the author lives in Alaska near Denali National Park), having written a nonfiction book on the trailblazing work she did for the National Park Service, Dirt Work: An Education in the Woods. Her love of “hand tools, traildogs, and wild lands” comes through passionately, consuming the character Josiah Kinzler, the father on the book jacket. Others in the family are drawn to the forested land and the woods too, but it’s Josiah who needs wood the most, eking out a living handcrafting furniture and finding solace in the quietude.
“Wind, wood, water, space,” to be more encompassing, is what matters, in different ways and degrees, to a family that needs a place to grow, feel freer, and call home. Freedom, independence, also means different things to the family, seen in the older daughter Louisa, boy-crazy, looking for love in all the wrong places. Cody, the younger sister in the image, is the one who shows us that regardless of how well you think you know someone you love, you may not know what’s buried deep in their soul.
Josiah’s the conflicted one who hungers for a space of his own. Margaret, his wife of twenty-five years and the girls’ mother, is the one whose silences, words held back, feelings kept to herself, shows us she understands Josiah’s much better than she lets on.
Other voices either know the family well, worked alongside Josiah in his workshop, are neighbors, an old boyfriend of Louisa’s (Cody’s not into boys for a long time), a customer, extended family, a doctor, and yes, a furry, faithful companion.
Hearing from them all in realistic, emotionally resonating, piercing observations and confessions reads like linked vignettes. Together, the multitude of characters form a holistic view of complex family dynamics on marriage, motherhood, coming-of-age, societal pressures, and the non-material things that shape a life far more meaningfully than luxuries ever can when you weigh what constitutes a life that stands for something.
Existential, philosophical wisdoms about life are interwoven throughout – learning to accept things, not dwell on things, hide things that would be hurtful to others, show kindness to those different than ourselves. “Play with anyone you want unless their mean,” Margaret tells Cody. That includes troubled people, not just the good ones.
Opening with “Start Small,” the third-person narrator introduces the nuclear family. Centered on Cody at nine years old, she’s small physically yet already mighty in character. Focused more on Cody’s coming-of-age, the novel extends to Louisa’s awakening, poignant in several chapters. “Sisters,” for instance, delivered in letters written by Cody and Louisa when she’s away at college and Cody finds herself spending more time alone reflects their closeness, their missing each other, relying on each other. In another chapter, Cody is the only one Louisa turns to after making a poor, impulsive decision with consequences. There will come a point when Louisa finally heeds her sister’s advice “better look out.” It’ll warm your heart.
Lookout connects us to Indigenous peoples in the region: the Blackfeet and Flathead/Salish/Kootenai Nations. The customer’s voice refers to Montana’s Native tribes when speaking about, “Montana families barely hanging on and to the Indians pushed further to the edges than that.” The Kinzlers are one of those families persevering. See all of Montana’s American Indian reservations at the margins: https://www.montana.edu/iefa/introduc....
Horses in the backcountry are imbedded in Montana’s culture and spirit. In a dramatic scene featuring Daisy, Cody’s horse, we see how much of a horse girl she is, putting her horse’s needs above her own. Margaret tells her: “You’re a brave, brave kid.” There’s a toughness to her, but you’ll see her softness when it counts.
Similarly, when a voice tells us “Everything leaves,” the arc of the novel demonstrates not everything. There’s comfort in a lifestyle, principles, landscapes that persist. There’s also Jess’s voice, Louisa’s old boyfriend, in and out of the picture, who reveals you can love someone for years and from afar and that doesn’t change. It’s Margaret who subscribes to the belief that “the way you saw your life could change depending on the light you saw it in.” It’s the people who change.
As you read the stories, hear the voices, Lookout also comes across like a series of insightful psychology character studies. Numerous times, you may find yourself astonished that this hidden gem has found its way into your hands.
Remarkably told through sixteen voices, including a third-person narrator, Lookout is an eloquent accounting of an “old Montana” family of four – the Kinzlers. It’s not an easy feat to switch around, repeatedly, who’s doing the telling. The effect is more expansive, clarifying, and intimate. First-rate storytelling delivered not in fancy prose, but from the heart. Nostalgic hearts, darkened hearts, sad hearts, loving hearts, compassionate hearts, angry hearts, grieving hearts, maturing hearts, praising hearts, flawed hearts, lonely hearts, earthbound hearts.
A novel I wish I could put into the hands of every reader.
The last time an old-fashioned storytelling novel made such a profound impression was William Kent Krueger’s This Tender Land. My copy came with a Dear Reader letter stating, “I’ve poured the best of myself into this story.” That’s what it feels Christine Byl has done.
She’s funneled six years of life experiences spent in Northwestern Montana, in the proximity of Glacier National Park where the novel is set (today the author lives in Alaska near Denali National Park), having written a nonfiction book on the trailblazing work she did for the National Park Service, Dirt Work: An Education in the Woods. Her love of “hand tools, traildogs, and wild lands” comes through passionately, consuming the character Josiah Kinzler, the father on the book jacket. Others in the family are drawn to the forested land and the woods too, but it’s Josiah who needs wood the most, eking out a living handcrafting furniture and finding solace in the quietude.
“Wind, wood, water, space,” to be more encompassing, is what matters, in different ways and degrees, to a family that needs a place to grow, feel freer, and call home. Freedom, independence, also means different things to the family, seen in the older daughter Louisa, boy-crazy, looking for love in all the wrong places. Cody, the younger sister in the image, is the one who shows us that regardless of how well you think you know someone you love, you may not know what’s buried deep in their soul.
Josiah’s the conflicted one who hungers for a space of his own. Margaret, his wife of twenty-five years and the girls’ mother, is the one whose silences, words held back, feelings kept to herself, shows us she understands Josiah’s much better than she lets on.
Other voices either know the family well, worked alongside Josiah in his workshop, are neighbors, an old boyfriend of Louisa’s (Cody’s not into boys for a long time), a customer, extended family, a doctor, and yes, a furry, faithful companion.
Hearing from them all in realistic, emotionally resonating, piercing observations and confessions reads like linked vignettes. Together, the multitude of characters form a holistic view of complex family dynamics on marriage, motherhood, coming-of-age, societal pressures, and the non-material things that shape a life far more meaningfully than luxuries ever can when you weigh what constitutes a life that stands for something.
Existential, philosophical wisdoms about life are interwoven throughout – learning to accept things, not dwell on things, hide things that would be hurtful to others, show kindness to those different than ourselves. “Play with anyone you want unless their mean,” Margaret tells Cody. That includes troubled people, not just the good ones.
Opening with “Start Small,” the third-person narrator introduces the nuclear family. Centered on Cody at nine years old, she’s small physically yet already mighty in character. Focused more on Cody’s coming-of-age, the novel extends to Louisa’s awakening, poignant in several chapters. “Sisters,” for instance, delivered in letters written by Cody and Louisa when she’s away at college and Cody finds herself spending more time alone reflects their closeness, their missing each other, relying on each other. In another chapter, Cody is the only one Louisa turns to after making a poor, impulsive decision with consequences. There will come a point when Louisa finally heeds her sister’s advice “better look out.” It’ll warm your heart.
Lookout connects us to Indigenous peoples in the region: the Blackfeet and Flathead/Salish/Kootenai Nations. The customer’s voice refers to Montana’s Native tribes when speaking about, “Montana families barely hanging on and to the Indians pushed further to the edges than that.” The Kinzlers are one of those families persevering. See all of Montana’s American Indian reservations at the margins: https://www.montana.edu/iefa/introduc....
Horses in the backcountry are imbedded in Montana’s culture and spirit. In a dramatic scene featuring Daisy, Cody’s horse, we see how much of a horse girl she is, putting her horse’s needs above her own. Margaret tells her: “You’re a brave, brave kid.” There’s a toughness to her, but you’ll see her softness when it counts.
Similarly, when a voice tells us “Everything leaves,” the arc of the novel demonstrates not everything. There’s comfort in a lifestyle, principles, landscapes that persist. There’s also Jess’s voice, Louisa’s old boyfriend, in and out of the picture, who reveals you can love someone for years and from afar and that doesn’t change. It’s Margaret who subscribes to the belief that “the way you saw your life could change depending on the light you saw it in.” It’s the people who change.
As you read the stories, hear the voices, Lookout also comes across like a series of insightful psychology character studies. Numerous times, you may find yourself astonished that this hidden gem has found its way into your hands.
August 31, 2023
I have no idea how I found this book, it seems like no one else has, and I am glad I did because this book feels like it was written just for me. Lookout is a book that thrives in its subtlety and slow moving plot. While this is a relatively short book, this book spans a long period of time, starting from when Cody is a young girl to her being a grown woman. And that is what I love about this style of storytelling, there are only 1-2 chapters per year which makes the book read like a diary, with only the most important moments of Cody's life are highlighted. In between these chapters, short snippets from the various other characters are inserted to give the reader some insight about the story.
The story itself is quite dense and heavy, which can make for some uncomfortable moments. Lookout covers sexuality, familial relations, marriage and mental health all in this small book. The star of this book is Josiah, Cody's father and best friend. As Cody grows up, her relationship with her father changes as she learns all the secrets surrounding him. It is not an imaginative story, and none of the reveals are well hidden from the reader, but it works and it makes you care about the characters. The community around Josiah and family are also well written, even with their limited pages dedicated to them. Overall, an amazing book which is exactly what I am looking for in a book. Recommended to fans of slow, family stories with heartwarming characters.
The story itself is quite dense and heavy, which can make for some uncomfortable moments. Lookout covers sexuality, familial relations, marriage and mental health all in this small book. The star of this book is Josiah, Cody's father and best friend. As Cody grows up, her relationship with her father changes as she learns all the secrets surrounding him. It is not an imaginative story, and none of the reveals are well hidden from the reader, but it works and it makes you care about the characters. The community around Josiah and family are also well written, even with their limited pages dedicated to them. Overall, an amazing book which is exactly what I am looking for in a book. Recommended to fans of slow, family stories with heartwarming characters.
October 4, 2023
This magnificent debut novel introduces the Kinzler family living in a relatively remote part of Montana not too far from Kalispel. Father Josiah is an avid outdoorsman and an artist who builds custom furniture from wood cut on his property. Margaret is the consummate country wife and the stable family influence. Louisa is the oldest daughter who is not always inclined to think before she acts and who also has lots of male interest flowing her way. Cody is the youngest daughter and very much a daddy’s girl.
This is a quiet novel but beautifully written about a family, their small insular community, a few close neighbors, and a lot of hard work for a relatively meager living. Still, they seem to have what they need. And most of all they have each other. Life isn’t always easy, there are some major secrets among them, and yet they get by.
I loved this character driven story about a life of self-sufficiency with a little help from friends and neighbors as needed. I was afraid it would be difficult to follow with each chapter beginning a different pov, but it wasn’t. I’ve been trying to think of a good comp. It has some of the same quiet tone as Laird Hunt’s Zorrie and a pastoral American sensitivity. It’s really lovely and would be great read next to a crackling fire.
This is a quiet novel but beautifully written about a family, their small insular community, a few close neighbors, and a lot of hard work for a relatively meager living. Still, they seem to have what they need. And most of all they have each other. Life isn’t always easy, there are some major secrets among them, and yet they get by.
I loved this character driven story about a life of self-sufficiency with a little help from friends and neighbors as needed. I was afraid it would be difficult to follow with each chapter beginning a different pov, but it wasn’t. I’ve been trying to think of a good comp. It has some of the same quiet tone as Laird Hunt’s Zorrie and a pastoral American sensitivity. It’s really lovely and would be great read next to a crackling fire.
August 6, 2024
The writing was decent, and I didn't hate it as much as I expected to at a glance. I read this book as part of a reading challenge for the library. It was my "2023 montana book award nominee" book.
The characters are realistic and relatable. You get drawn into their story as though you are a close friend or a neighbor. It reads more like a non-fiction "tell-all" than a fictional novel. I think the author had more a part of the story than she lets on. Even the names are not exactly fiction. A number of the family names are immediately recognizable if you are from Montana (and in particular, Great Falls).
The ending. The author leaves you with a sense of how the story ends. She just doesn't actually finish it. It feels like she skipped the last chapter.
Overall, it was ok. I didn't hate it. It was decently written. I didn't love it, and I can't think of anyone I'd recommend it to.
The characters are realistic and relatable. You get drawn into their story as though you are a close friend or a neighbor. It reads more like a non-fiction "tell-all" than a fictional novel. I think the author had more a part of the story than she lets on. Even the names are not exactly fiction. A number of the family names are immediately recognizable if you are from Montana (and in particular, Great Falls).
The ending. The author leaves you with a sense of how the story ends. She just doesn't actually finish it. It feels like she skipped the last chapter.
Overall, it was ok. I didn't hate it. It was decently written. I didn't love it, and I can't think of anyone I'd recommend it to.
April 2, 2025
I liked this book but am totally confused by the end. We are supposed to have book club tonight with the author. I liked the similarities between Josiah and Cody with their introvertedness and need to be alone to recharge. I liked the mom's reflections at the end of the book pertaining to her marriage and what she wish she would have said and did, instead of changing her behavior. Louisa's character seemed consistent throughout the book, including when she was a parent. I liked Josiah up until the end. I felt sorry for Freddy. I feel like the relationships with the neighbors (Doyle and Clint specifically) could have been developed a little fuller and sooner in the book. But I did like it overall. I stayed up wayyyyyy too late last night finishing it for book club tonight. I would have been done but I got sucked into season 3 of White Lotus.
May 29, 2025
Selected from 2026 Calvin Center Festival of Faith and Writing recommended books
The whole story reads like a series of short stories, and I mean that in the best way, that every word matters. The development of character and place throughout is unlike, and far deeper, the development of most novels. We follow characters, particularly Cody, over decades, but nearly every character mentioned returns again at some point and with significance. It’s fitting that character development is so well done because so much of the book is about identity, one’s inner life, what we know about ourselves, and what we reveal (or not) to others.
When I finished, I actually went back to the beginning and read again how the story had started. (The first chapter was a short story, and so was “Cody Kinzler,” a stream of consciousness inner dialogue with Jess McCaffrey when Cody is about 12 years old.)
The whole story reads like a series of short stories, and I mean that in the best way, that every word matters. The development of character and place throughout is unlike, and far deeper, the development of most novels. We follow characters, particularly Cody, over decades, but nearly every character mentioned returns again at some point and with significance. It’s fitting that character development is so well done because so much of the book is about identity, one’s inner life, what we know about ourselves, and what we reveal (or not) to others.
When I finished, I actually went back to the beginning and read again how the story had started. (The first chapter was a short story, and so was “Cody Kinzler,” a stream of consciousness inner dialogue with Jess McCaffrey when Cody is about 12 years old.)
April 15, 2025
This book was given to me after last year’s library fundraiser and the author sat at our table with us. Hopefully we’ll get a chance to do a bookclub discussion with her at some point. The novel was well written, she does a good job bringing the reader into the place/setting and the pacing of the story feels just right. Cody’s relationship with her dad Josiah is lovely and she’s the main character and she’s a strong female - physically and mentally. There’s some trigger warnings for the second half of the novel certain readers should be aware of. The book is really about the relationships between father and daughter(s), husband and wife, gay lovers, and all the different types of families that can exist.
January 20, 2024
I loved this book and every character in it. Christine Byl is a beautiful writer and captures the rich complexities of family and other relationships in such a truthful way. Western Montana is a character too, along with family dogs and other animals. Even one of the wise dogs gets a chapter. The story is ordinary and extraordinary, unique, yet universal. I don't often re-read books, but I'll come back to this one. It's emotionally powerful in a way that I know I'll be still thinking about it weeks from now.
April 19, 2023
This is a quietly moving story about a family that caught me up as I read. A story about love between and among family members. The author so clearly writes about the different relationships within families: the dad one sibling knows is not the "same" dad another sibling knows. This also explores family secrets and the possible consequences/understandings when they inevitably come to light. I don’t know what category I’ll put this under, but like I said this snuck up on me in a good way.
April 23, 2023
This book was incredibly frustrating. One hand, Christine Byl is a good writer and this book is a smoldering burn. On the other, it reads like it’s set in a far off time in frontier land Montana, not in the 80s and 90s. The Big Reveal falls flat and isn’t much of a reveal. I felt like Byl had a good idea, but didn’t know how to execute it.
April 28, 2023
Cody loves her family particularly her father Josiah, a man she resembles in looks and temperament. Set in a Montana that seems to be timeless but events in the story anchor it to its time frame from the 1980s to the 2000s. Strong on description of land and sense of place, Byl also reveals characters who are barely known to themselves.
October 5, 2023
This is a beautifully written book about a family in Montana and centering on Cody, the youngest daughter and her father Josiah. It has a lot of wisdom and characters that are deep and detailed. The difficulties of secrets and the complications and varieties of love play a great part in this book told over the course of many years.
October 25, 2024
I went to a book review to hear someone else talk about their book. I also heard Byl talk about Lookout so I bought it. What a good decision - it was a beautiful book about a contemporary Montana family and the relationship between a father and his daughter, and how the daughter came of age and learned to live in the modern world.
May 25, 2023
A book that took 25 years to write deserves a thoughtful review. Working on that. For now, I’m letting the characters live in my mind a few more days, savoring small details, revisiting narrative surprises. Exercising delight.
October 24, 2023
Beautifully written story of a contemporary family in rural Montana. With the focus especially on a father and daughter, the dynamic develops among all family members as they grow away but never apart. This is an author to watch!
September 22, 2025
A moving story about a family living in rural Montana told mostly through the perspective of the youngest daughter, Cody. Although the author gives voice to other characters, it didn’t seem choppy or difficult to follow, as it often is in other books. This is a book that I’ll remember.
May 10, 2023
This was a good, slow burn. I loved the characters and their relationships with each other.
September 15, 2023
This book was slow at first for me, but the ending… wow. Unanswered questions coming to light, leaving you with closure but also a heavy heart. My review does not do this book justice.
January 8, 2024
Such a beautiful and understated novel about how close and distant we can be with one another at the same time.
January 19, 2024
A beautiful evocative book about a family in NW Montana. Such a strong sense of place! I wonder though if others who don’t know and love NW Montana as I do would appreciate it as much.
March 25, 2024
I loved this beautifully written book and was sad when it came to an end.
May 31, 2025
Wowowow I am in deep awe and deep love with this book. The chapters move between perspectives with an empathetic grace that astounds me. The characters are strong and troubled and loving and each so utterly unique. No part of the story felt bland or rehearsed; every chapter and sentence shone. Incredible writing.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews