Heart Earth

Ivan Doig grew up with only a vague memory of his mother, Berneta, who died on his sixth birthday. Then he discovered a cache of her letters--and through them, a spunky, passionate, can-do woman as at home in the saddle as behind a sewing machine, and as in love with language as Doig would prove to be. In this moving prequel to his acclaimed memoir This House of Sky, Doig brings to life his childhood before his mother's death and the family's journey from the Montana mountains to the Arizona desert and back again. He eloquently captures the texture of the American West during and after World War II, the fortune of a family, and one woman's indomitable spirit.

"Fresh, vivid language [energizes] Doig's keen insight into a woman whose warmth he felt only briefly."--The Seattle Times

"An affecting book, heartbreaking in its recital of the stark severance of a young family's life, but ennobling in the implacable spirit that infuses its pages . . . [It] should endure as [a] magnificent testimonial to the men and women who people it, and as [a] classic of the bittersweet history of the American West."--The Washington Times

Ivan Doig is the author of ten previous books, including the memoir This House of Sky, a National Book Award Finalist. A former ranch hand, newspaperman, and magazine editor, Doig holds a Ph.D. in history from the University of Washington. He lives in Seattle.