Critical Praise

“Sexy, following a rugged path from sorrow to salvation, Williams’ new book is made from the serious materials of sudden grief --- but it isn't sad in the least. On the contrary! There’s a fierce, hard-won joy here, as sturdy as the mountains of New Hampshire, and as glorious.”

—Michael Byers, author of Percival’s Planet and The Coast of Good Intentions

“There seems to be no element of these people and this landscape to which Williams is a stranger. She sees straight to the heart of her characters, and it is a pleasure to witness them yearning and grieving and loving their way through these pages, one living human presence after another, the mountain and the forest rising up around them in all their mystery and specificity.”

—Kevin Brockmeier, author of Illumination and The Brief History of the Dead

“Here in are the qualities of enduring greatness, our turbulent natures, instructions for life. Inside these covers there’s a woman’s profound love, a terrible and beautiful world, the claw of grief. Her story is told with grace and dignity and the kind of writing we hunger for: straight and true, spare and generous.”

—Robert Olmstead, author of Coal Black Horse and A Trail of Heart’s Blood Wherever We Go