Charles and Addington Gaunt must find their free- spirited brother Simon who has gone missing in the wilds of the American West. They enlist the services of a guide to lead them on their journey across a harsh and unknown landscape. This is the enigmatic Jerry Potts half Blackfoot half Scottish who suffers his own painful past. They are joined by Lucy Stoveall a woman filled with rage and sorrow over the loss of her young sister Madge who was brutally murdered. She is on a vengeful mission to track down and kill the murderous Kelso brothers. The group is joined by a jumble of other characters en route each of whom are forced to confront their own demons. But at the novel's centre is a love story. Vanderhaeghe glides effortlessly through the patois and frontier talk faultlessly switching from cultured English characters to American roughnecks to Scots-Canadians and the natural prairie landscape is evoked brilliantly. Vanderhaeghe's new novel is an epic masterpiece that solidifies his place as one of Canada's best storytellers.
