In this Anthony Doerr story, a thirty-year-old Montanan hunting guide gets more than he bargained for after marrying an eighteen-year-old magician’s assistant. He is a “man’s man” whose whole world is a one-room cabin in a secluded valley. She proves to have psychic powers and can perceive and share memories of the life or final moments of the dead or dying (both animal and human) by touching them. As grieving families increasingly ask for her help to provide closure, he labels her a grifter and cheat. Themes include love, nature, isolation, survival, self-discovery, paranormal abilities, narrow-mindedness, death as a transition.
