Nominated for a Books in Canada First Novel Award, this resonant novel of love and loss explores the texture of rural family life:

Iris, seemingly happily married to Barney, a rancher-turned-farmer, has surprisingly fallen in love with Jake, an old man who still radiates the power of the legendary cowboy he once was; Lannie, Iris's troubled niece, judges Iris for her weakness nearly as harshly as she judges herself.

Set in a beautifully realized prairie landscape, and presenting the heroines of Butala's acclaimed novel The Garden of Eden for the first time, this novel rings with passion and authenticity.