The Whistling Season - Paperback

by Ivan Doig (Author)

"Can't cook but doesn't bite." So begins the newspaper ad offering the services of an "A-1 housekeeper, sound morals, exceptional disposition" that draws the attention of widower Oliver Milliron in the fall of 1909. That unforgettable season deposits the ever-whistling Rose Llewellyn and her font-of-knowledge brother, Morris Morgan, in Marias Coulee along with a stampede of homesteaders drawn by the promise of the Big Ditch--a gargantuan irrigation project intended to make the Montana prairie bloom.

When the schoolmarm runs off with an itinerant preacher, Morris is pressed into service, setting the stage for the "several kinds of education"--none of them of the textbook variety--Morris and Rose will bring to Oliver, his three sons, and the rambunctious students in the region's one-room schoolhouse.

"Flawless...The Whistling Season is a book that strives for more than beauty, which it achieves, it reaches for joy."--O, the Oprah Magazine

Front Jacket

Can t cook but doesn t bite. So begins the newspaper ad offering the services of an "A-1 housekeeper, sound morals, exceptional disposition" that draws the hungry attention of widower Oliver Milliron in the fall of 1909. And so begins the unforgettable season that deposits the noncooking, nonbiting, ever-whistling Rose Llewellyn and her font-of-knowledge brother, Morris Morgan, in Marias Coulee along with a stampede of homesteaders drawn by the promise of the Big Ditch a gargantuan irrigation project intended to make the Montana prairie bloom. When the schoolmarm runs off with an itinerant preacher, Morris is pressed into service, setting the stage for the "several kinds of education" none of them of the textbook variety Morris and Rose will bring to Oliver, his three sons, and the rambunctious students in the region s one-room schoolhouse.
A paean to a vanished way of life and the eccentric individuals and idiosyncratic institutions that made it fertile, "The Whistling Season" is Ivan Doig at his evocative best.
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Back Jacket

A "New York Times" Editors Choice
A "Washington Post Book World"Best Book of the Year

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"Flawless." "O, the Oprah Magazine
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"Courageous." "Washington Post Book World
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"Evocative." "The New Yorker
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"Life-affirming." "Los Angeles Times Book Review
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"Magical." "Star Tribune" (Minneapolis)

"Luminous." "Seattle Times
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"[A] memorable tale set in the historical West but contemporary in its themes and universal in its insights into the human heart." "Seattle Times
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"Can t cook but doesn t bite." So begins the ad that deposits the noncooking, nonbiting, ever-whistling housekeeper Rose Llewellyn and her font-of-knowledge brother, Morris Morgan, in Marias Coulee, Montana in the fall of 1909. In the unforgettable season that follows, Morris and Rose bring "several kinds of education" none of them of the textbook variety to widower Oliver Milliron, his three sons, and the rambunctious students in the region s one-room schoolhouse. A paean to a vanished way of life and the eccentric individuals and institutions that made it fertile, "The Whistling Season" is Ivan Doig at his best.

""The Whistling Season "takes the chill out of today s literary winds." "Los Angeles Times Book Review
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"Lovely storytelling, whether you re in Montana or New York." "USA Today
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Ivan Doig is the author of ten previous books, including the novels "Prairie Nocturne" and "Dancing at the Rascal Fair." A former ranch hand, newspaperman, and magazine editor, Doig holds a Ph.D. in history from the University of Washington. He lives in Seattle. "

Author Biography

Ivan Doig is the author of ten previous books, including the novels Prairie Nocturne and Dancing at the Rascal Fair. A former ranch hand, newspaperman, and magazine editor, Doig holds a Ph.D. in history from the University of Washington. He lives in Seattle.