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Description
A tale told from multiple perspectives traces the complicated relationship between Ann and Wade on a rugged landscape and how they came together in the aftermath of his first wife's imprisonment for a violent murder. Ann and Wade have carved out a life for themselves from a rugged landscape in northern Idaho. With her husband's memory fading, Ann attempts to piece together the truth of what happened to Wade's first wife, Jenny, and to their daughters. Through multiple perspectives we gradually learn of the mysterious and shocking act that fractured Wade and Jenny's lives, as Ann becomes determined to understand the family she never knew-- and to take responsibility for them, reassembling their lives, and her own.
User reviews
LibraryThing member RidgewayGirl
A woman wants to understand her husband's past, especially his previous marriage, but is hindered by his early-onset dementia. Ann teaches music at a small private school in Idaho, where she meets Wade, a quiet man who comes to her for piano lessons, hoping to stave off the dementia that took his
If grades were given to books, this one would receive an A for effort and for getting all the different elements right. But the book never quite hangs together the way it should. The characters never solidify and their motivations remain opaque. The reader knows that Ann loves Wade because Ann mentions that a lot, but she never explores why she chose to marry a man she had barely spoken to and whom she knew had dementia remains the central mystery of Idaho.
Rushkovich writes well enough and she certainly knows how to pile up interesting elements. I look forward to her developing further as an author and learning how to fit the various pieces into a harmonious whole.
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father from him and that he can now see signs of in himself. After a shocking and tragic event takes his daughters from him, Ann marries him and works to be a good wife even as she is haunted by all she doesn't know about what happened. If grades were given to books, this one would receive an A for effort and for getting all the different elements right. But the book never quite hangs together the way it should. The characters never solidify and their motivations remain opaque. The reader knows that Ann loves Wade because Ann mentions that a lot, but she never explores why she chose to marry a man she had barely spoken to and whom she knew had dementia remains the central mystery of Idaho.
Rushkovich writes well enough and she certainly knows how to pile up interesting elements. I look forward to her developing further as an author and learning how to fit the various pieces into a harmonious whole.
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LibraryThing member satxreader
What a colossal waste of valuable time!
LibraryThing member jphamilton
SPOILER ALERT: Much is revealed here, so if you ‘re going to read this fine book, read what I have to say after you have finished that last page.
There is a shocking brutality at the heart of this novel. A six-year-old girl named May, ends up murdered, her sister, June, is forever lost in the
This book is a brilliant look into the minds surrounding a brutal act, what may have caused it, and how it changed the people involved, and even those just looking for the truth. Ann’s attempts to learn from the sometimes-violent Wade, are a combination of gently and slowly, up against the ticking of the clock of his advancing dementia. The answers held in his head are losing definition and fading into a haze. Memory is anything but definitive in the best of times, but stacking shock, brutality, and illness on top of already unimaginable events, makes every single person’s memory very singular, personal, and different. Readers also learn some facts from Elizabeth, Jenny’s prison cellmate, things revealed from their many conversations.
Ruskovich is so good at describing the smallest detail with such care, that one could easily get lost when she continually has her characters paying notice to the looks and the smells of objects and places, like the inside of a truck or a glove. I love her descriptions of all the scents trapped in a simple glove that they had rubbed on the snout of the tracking bloodhound when it was leading the initial search for June. The author even shifts to the viewpoint of the hound as it tries to make sense of all the glove’s smells: grease, blood, sweat, the girl’s hair, honeysuckle, a skinned deer, seeds, and the smell of the truck. Not surprising, the dog has no luck in finding the girl. Yet, readers are also given the hound’s eye view as it travels along with its snout close to the ground, its huge ears hanging down and creating a tunnel that funneled all scents to its nose. I will now always think of intelligent design whenever I look at a bloodhound’s massive ears.
The book also requires that the reader stay alert to what’s going on and which particular character is informing the story. The chapters are titled with a single year, or a group of years, but are never marching in any chronological order through the book. You are dropped into many different times, acts, and with any of the books cast of characters.
The writing is vivid and so very rich with luscious details and language. Allow me to quote just one phrase, when Ann and Wade were watching dozens of blackbirds in the sky as they “converge and scatter like a handful of black sand thrown against the sky.” There seemed to be countless strokes of brilliance throughout the book. The book is a brutal joy to read.
The book won the Edgar Award for Best First Novel by an American Author, as well as the prestigious International Dublin Literary Award, with an impressive award of $111,000. Reviews have made comparisons of Ruskovich to other writers such as Jim Harrison, Marilynne Robinson, Ken Kesey, and Rick Bass. I find myself easily agreeing with this, and it also explains my appreciation for her writing.
The fact that Ruskovich could pull this all off in her first published novel is amazing, and it definitely puts her on my radar screen for whatever she publishes next.
from a review
“Wrenching and beautiful … You’re in masterly hands here. [Emily] Ruskovich’s language is itself a consolation, as she subtly posits the troubling thought that decency can save us.” – The New York Times Book Review
There is a shocking brutality at the heart of this novel. A six-year-old girl named May, ends up murdered, her sister, June, is forever lost in the
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woods, and a woman goes to prison--their mother. Idaho is the title and the rugged setting for this story of the girls and their parents (Wade and Jenny), and Wade’s second wife, Ann. Wade and Ann love each other deeply, but all the details of what happened with the girls hasn’t been revealed. Wade has such a deep pain and anger within him, that it warps his character, and keeps him from ever revealing much to his new wife. His haunting and angry resistance to discussing this painful past has stymied Ann from learning much, and now his early onset dementia is hiding the facts of his own life from Wade himself. He’s very unpredictable. Once, Ann returns home to find that Wade has cut a large number of square holes all the way through the outside walls of their home, so that the stray cat in the house can get out. Okay? This book is a brilliant look into the minds surrounding a brutal act, what may have caused it, and how it changed the people involved, and even those just looking for the truth. Ann’s attempts to learn from the sometimes-violent Wade, are a combination of gently and slowly, up against the ticking of the clock of his advancing dementia. The answers held in his head are losing definition and fading into a haze. Memory is anything but definitive in the best of times, but stacking shock, brutality, and illness on top of already unimaginable events, makes every single person’s memory very singular, personal, and different. Readers also learn some facts from Elizabeth, Jenny’s prison cellmate, things revealed from their many conversations.
Ruskovich is so good at describing the smallest detail with such care, that one could easily get lost when she continually has her characters paying notice to the looks and the smells of objects and places, like the inside of a truck or a glove. I love her descriptions of all the scents trapped in a simple glove that they had rubbed on the snout of the tracking bloodhound when it was leading the initial search for June. The author even shifts to the viewpoint of the hound as it tries to make sense of all the glove’s smells: grease, blood, sweat, the girl’s hair, honeysuckle, a skinned deer, seeds, and the smell of the truck. Not surprising, the dog has no luck in finding the girl. Yet, readers are also given the hound’s eye view as it travels along with its snout close to the ground, its huge ears hanging down and creating a tunnel that funneled all scents to its nose. I will now always think of intelligent design whenever I look at a bloodhound’s massive ears.
The book also requires that the reader stay alert to what’s going on and which particular character is informing the story. The chapters are titled with a single year, or a group of years, but are never marching in any chronological order through the book. You are dropped into many different times, acts, and with any of the books cast of characters.
The writing is vivid and so very rich with luscious details and language. Allow me to quote just one phrase, when Ann and Wade were watching dozens of blackbirds in the sky as they “converge and scatter like a handful of black sand thrown against the sky.” There seemed to be countless strokes of brilliance throughout the book. The book is a brutal joy to read.
The book won the Edgar Award for Best First Novel by an American Author, as well as the prestigious International Dublin Literary Award, with an impressive award of $111,000. Reviews have made comparisons of Ruskovich to other writers such as Jim Harrison, Marilynne Robinson, Ken Kesey, and Rick Bass. I find myself easily agreeing with this, and it also explains my appreciation for her writing.
The fact that Ruskovich could pull this all off in her first published novel is amazing, and it definitely puts her on my radar screen for whatever she publishes next.
from a review
“Wrenching and beautiful … You’re in masterly hands here. [Emily] Ruskovich’s language is itself a consolation, as she subtly posits the troubling thought that decency can save us.” – The New York Times Book Review
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LibraryThing member Carlie
The novel begins with Ann and Wade. They are married, and Ann is obsessed with Wade’s tragic past. His first wife, Jenny, murdered one of their daughters; the other daughter ran from the scene and was never found. Wade now has dementia and does not remember any of it clearly.
Each chapter begins
The writing is beautiful and the author is able to adeptly set the scene and the emotion. I appreciated reading about a setting I am familiar with in northern Idaho. The characters are not particularly lovable. The only character I really liked was the younger daughter, and that was not even really her but Ann’s imagined version of her.
This book frustrated me because each perspective was a woman living vicariously through other women. It felt like they were always escaping themselves and placing themselves at the whim of some other actor rather than having much of their own agency. When they did have agency, they were related to negative acts like violence and theft. I felt cheated that I didn’t get to know more about why Jenny killed her child.
Each chapter begins
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with a point in time, usually a year, and the story is not told chronologically. Also, the main perspective changes with the chapters. Sometimes told from Ann’s point of view, sometimes Jenny’s, sometimes Jenny’s cellmate in prison, sometimes Ann’s imaginary view of the daughters, and rarely from Wade’s perspective.The writing is beautiful and the author is able to adeptly set the scene and the emotion. I appreciated reading about a setting I am familiar with in northern Idaho. The characters are not particularly lovable. The only character I really liked was the younger daughter, and that was not even really her but Ann’s imagined version of her.
This book frustrated me because each perspective was a woman living vicariously through other women. It felt like they were always escaping themselves and placing themselves at the whim of some other actor rather than having much of their own agency. When they did have agency, they were related to negative acts like violence and theft. I felt cheated that I didn’t get to know more about why Jenny killed her child.
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LibraryThing member lisapeet
A really interesting, dark, and off-the-grid (multiple narrators and non-contiguous time frames) look at loss and the part memory plays in that. At the story's base there's a murder—a matricide—but it isn't there to be solved, although one of the protagonists invests much energy in getting at
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its emotional core. Rather, there are a lot of twinnings that are pulled apart and the wound examined—sisters growing apart, parents and lost (both figuratively and literally) children, marriages, unconventional friendships, even an amputated leg wracked with phantom and emotional pain. Ruskovich stays on the side of the implicit, rather than spelling out her connections, and this makes for a tension that carries the book through what might otherwise be a distracting series of time and POV jumps. It's a dark story—not sure why it's been marketed as a thriller or mystery, since it's neither—filled with some lovely writing about the natural world and the small internal shifts its characters make. Maybe a bit heavy on the latter, but mostly the book is satisfying. Very different from much of what I've read this year. Show Less
LibraryThing member bookclub4evr
Quality of Writing:7.31
Glad you read it?: 6.75
Glad you read it?: 6.75
LibraryThing member hubblegal
Such an extraordinary and haunting tale
I truly didn’t want this book to end. At its heart is the story of a tragic act, but it’s so much more than just that act. Each chapter is a literary work of art. There’s the story of Wade and Jenny and their two daughters, June and May, and the terrible
The story is not told in a linear fashion. The chapters travel between present, past and future but are not confusing in any way. Time weaves back and forth to create a beautiful mosaic. All is tied together – love, forgiveness, regrets, memory, imagination. Ms. Ruskovich’s book deserves every award I’m sure it will get. This is one of my favorite books of the year. Most highly recommended.
This book was given to me by the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review.
I truly didn’t want this book to end. At its heart is the story of a tragic act, but it’s so much more than just that act. Each chapter is a literary work of art. There’s the story of Wade and Jenny and their two daughters, June and May, and the terrible
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act that tore them apart. There’s the story of Wade and Ann and her efforts to heal his broken heart and mind. There’s the story of Wade and his father and the health issue they share. There’s the story of June and May, two young sisters living their lives in the days before tragedy strikes. There’s the story of the friendship between Jenny and Elizabeth. There’s the story of a young boy who loses his leg in a freak accident. Each of these stories are tied together but each is worthy of its own telling.The story is not told in a linear fashion. The chapters travel between present, past and future but are not confusing in any way. Time weaves back and forth to create a beautiful mosaic. All is tied together – love, forgiveness, regrets, memory, imagination. Ms. Ruskovich’s book deserves every award I’m sure it will get. This is one of my favorite books of the year. Most highly recommended.
This book was given to me by the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review.
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LibraryThing member shazjhb
Excellent book. Good read
LibraryThing member gpangel
Idaho by Emily Ruskovich is a 2017 by Chatto & Windus publication.
This book was pushed heavily by some book clubs and by readers on various book sites. I put it on hold at the library, but the wait time was very long. When a copy finally became available, I had forgotten what the book was about
While it has been listed as a psychological mystery or a novel of suspense, I have mixed feelings about that. To me this book is more literary fiction, which centers around a crime. Yes, there is a mystery, but it’s not what we usually think when that word is applied to a novel.
Obviously, Idaho is the setting for this complex story about love, marriage, illness, family, and forgiveness. But, the violence that brings these events into focus is murky, sad, and mysterious. Questions abound, with few concrete answers, which is frustrating beyond reason, but, there are enough explanations to see how things must have transpired.
Wade and Ann married after a terrible tragedy, and Wade is already exhibiting signs of dementia. Ann loves Wade so much, but she is haunted by the memories he is fast losing sight of and attempts to piece together the reasons why his family was torn to pieces.
Told from various perspectives, the story slowly unwinds in a kind of lackadaisical way, which sharply contrasts with the shocking events the story is built on. The characters seem like they are in a dreamlike state at times as memory plays tricks, by opening the door, then firmly slamming it shut before anyone can get a full understanding of the events that transpire prior to Ann and Wade’s marriage.
I kept hoping for some kind of illuminating breakthrough, a big reveal, or uncovered evidence, but it was not to be. I did get the general implications and thought the ending was emotional, yet fitting.
While some threads are left hanging, which is always a bit disappointing, I was okay with it simply because I felt it was more realistic, but I do hope a day will come when the author might decide to add an additional epilogue or create a sequel to address some of the perplexing questions that were never resolved.
I believe this is a debut novel, and as such, it is most impressive. The writing was astounding and is what swept me up into this atmospheric drama with such ease, and kept me captivated and slightly on edge all the way to the end.
I can’t put my finger on what it was about his story that so captured my imagination, but it held me spellbound and it would not relinquish its hold on me easily.
Again, don’t pick this up expecting the usual mystery or psychological thriller. Technically, this is a crime novel and there is a tense, suspenseful tone, but the mystery is not one that has a definitive or pat answer, but is one where the reader much draw their own conclusions, by reading between the lines.
If you start this book without those preset notions and allow yourself to be led along willingly, you will see so many angles and nuances, amid the deep emotional depths of the characters. If nothing else the writing, which knocked me over, is worth every bit of the time you spend reading this book.
I will be looking out for this author in the future!!
4 stars
This book was pushed heavily by some book clubs and by readers on various book sites. I put it on hold at the library, but the wait time was very long. When a copy finally became available, I had forgotten what the book was about
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and what type of book it was supposed to be. This might have worked in my favor this time around as I had no preconceived expectations.While it has been listed as a psychological mystery or a novel of suspense, I have mixed feelings about that. To me this book is more literary fiction, which centers around a crime. Yes, there is a mystery, but it’s not what we usually think when that word is applied to a novel.
Obviously, Idaho is the setting for this complex story about love, marriage, illness, family, and forgiveness. But, the violence that brings these events into focus is murky, sad, and mysterious. Questions abound, with few concrete answers, which is frustrating beyond reason, but, there are enough explanations to see how things must have transpired.
Wade and Ann married after a terrible tragedy, and Wade is already exhibiting signs of dementia. Ann loves Wade so much, but she is haunted by the memories he is fast losing sight of and attempts to piece together the reasons why his family was torn to pieces.
Told from various perspectives, the story slowly unwinds in a kind of lackadaisical way, which sharply contrasts with the shocking events the story is built on. The characters seem like they are in a dreamlike state at times as memory plays tricks, by opening the door, then firmly slamming it shut before anyone can get a full understanding of the events that transpire prior to Ann and Wade’s marriage.
I kept hoping for some kind of illuminating breakthrough, a big reveal, or uncovered evidence, but it was not to be. I did get the general implications and thought the ending was emotional, yet fitting.
While some threads are left hanging, which is always a bit disappointing, I was okay with it simply because I felt it was more realistic, but I do hope a day will come when the author might decide to add an additional epilogue or create a sequel to address some of the perplexing questions that were never resolved.
I believe this is a debut novel, and as such, it is most impressive. The writing was astounding and is what swept me up into this atmospheric drama with such ease, and kept me captivated and slightly on edge all the way to the end.
I can’t put my finger on what it was about his story that so captured my imagination, but it held me spellbound and it would not relinquish its hold on me easily.
Again, don’t pick this up expecting the usual mystery or psychological thriller. Technically, this is a crime novel and there is a tense, suspenseful tone, but the mystery is not one that has a definitive or pat answer, but is one where the reader much draw their own conclusions, by reading between the lines.
If you start this book without those preset notions and allow yourself to be led along willingly, you will see so many angles and nuances, amid the deep emotional depths of the characters. If nothing else the writing, which knocked me over, is worth every bit of the time you spend reading this book.
I will be looking out for this author in the future!!
4 stars
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LibraryThing member kdabra4
I received a galley copy of Idaho from NetGalley and the publisher.
There was much to like about this book, but also tremendous frustration with it. First, I looked at the chapter titles, which log the years, going from 2004 to 2008 to 1985-1986, 1999, 1973, and at the end 2025, and I could not
Then just as I was drawn in, I was turned off by more perspectives and timelines being introduced, and more questions than answers. The last several chapters were interminable. I guess if read for a book club, there could be lengthy discussions, analyzing, delving deeply, and sheer guesswork to be had. Instead, I sit here very frustrated and not pleased one bit with the ending. 2.5 stars.
There was much to like about this book, but also tremendous frustration with it. First, I looked at the chapter titles, which log the years, going from 2004 to 2008 to 1985-1986, 1999, 1973, and at the end 2025, and I could not
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bring myself to even begin reading it, since I definitely do not enjoy timelines that jump around like this. But when I finally did start it, I was sort of mesmerized by the exquisite writing and drawn into the mystery of a mother who inexplicably murders her daughter on a family outing, causing the other daughter to run away and go missing for all time. So two mysteries actually exist. Two mysteries to solve...or not.Then just as I was drawn in, I was turned off by more perspectives and timelines being introduced, and more questions than answers. The last several chapters were interminable. I guess if read for a book club, there could be lengthy discussions, analyzing, delving deeply, and sheer guesswork to be had. Instead, I sit here very frustrated and not pleased one bit with the ending. 2.5 stars.
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LibraryThing member DougJ110
Beautifully written.
LibraryThing member ClareRhoden
After reading this book, I have now read many reviews, and I think I have found the source of my confusion with this beautifully written, pensive novel. I was expecting - not something more, but something different - from what I read. I try not to read too many reviews before I start a book, as I
I was expecting a literary thriller, given the sharpness and brilliance of the prose, and the blurb indicating that an horrific act had taken place. I thought Ann would discover what had happened, as the novel seems set up that she will track down the mystery of her husband Wade's life story.
(On that note, the relentless progress of Wade's dementia was totally unexpected and made it hard to empathise with him - I was looking for a distraught father, not a confused dog-trainer. That part was pretty horrible, and I wish I'd known there would be so much about dementia and forgetting in this book)
However, there is no resolution as one would expect in a thriller, and no proffered explanation as you might expect in a rumination on death, forgetfulness and living after tragedy. I was surprised that the killer mother, Jenny, never thought about why she had murdered her child, and the relation of the events did not set up any explanation, even after all the multiple viewpoints had added their perspective. I don't mind a meditation on the randomness of life, but I think the publisher here has done the author a slight disservice by indicating that this book is a thriller. I feel that I might be able to re-read this book at some time with different expectations, but that I probably won't. So I'm a bit disappointed because my expectations were very high.
On the other hand, if you love explorations into unsolvable mysteries, written in incisive, evocative prose, then this book is for you.
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want to see how it would play out if I picked it up from the library shelf or the bookstore. In this case, the blurb led me down quite the wrong track.I was expecting a literary thriller, given the sharpness and brilliance of the prose, and the blurb indicating that an horrific act had taken place. I thought Ann would discover what had happened, as the novel seems set up that she will track down the mystery of her husband Wade's life story.
(On that note, the relentless progress of Wade's dementia was totally unexpected and made it hard to empathise with him - I was looking for a distraught father, not a confused dog-trainer. That part was pretty horrible, and I wish I'd known there would be so much about dementia and forgetting in this book)
However, there is no resolution as one would expect in a thriller, and no proffered explanation as you might expect in a rumination on death, forgetfulness and living after tragedy. I was surprised that the killer mother, Jenny, never thought about why she had murdered her child, and the relation of the events did not set up any explanation, even after all the multiple viewpoints had added their perspective. I don't mind a meditation on the randomness of life, but I think the publisher here has done the author a slight disservice by indicating that this book is a thriller. I feel that I might be able to re-read this book at some time with different expectations, but that I probably won't. So I'm a bit disappointed because my expectations were very high.
On the other hand, if you love explorations into unsolvable mysteries, written in incisive, evocative prose, then this book is for you.
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LibraryThing member kayanelson
TOB--This was just average. It was interesting but adding new characters near the end of the book really didn't add much. Some parts were well written. The beginning and end were better than the middle
LibraryThing member fothpaul
It's a really good book. It's not a happy book what with the child murder and the early-onset dementia. The writing style reminds me of Stoner, which is one that I really enjoyed, although the subject matter is a lot heftier. Towards the end I felt that it started to lose tempo a little with a few
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chapters from perspectives which we hadn't heard before. These felt a little experimental and to me maybe weren't necessary, but they didn't ruin the book or detract from it too much. The gradual reveal of the terrible events worked well, especially the connection between Wade's old and new wife and the small unknowing role that Ann had to play in the terrible event that the book is centred around. The whole book had a dreamlike quality to it, reflecting the memories of the characters it was exploring. As I said before I liked it, but it wasn't necessarily fun. Show Less
LibraryThing member Beamis12
Books are miraculous things. They touch each one of us in individual ways. As soon as I started reading, I was in awe of this authors obvious talent. A first book, seriously with this beautiful prose, prose that is elegant, haunting and melancholic. Prose that shows us a beautiful landscape in
The themes of memory, forgiveness are strong throughout. The story goes back and forth, past, present and even the future and from person to person, not my favorite way of story telling but it works well here. Like memory the story s almost related in fragments, the reader needs to put them together, find their own way through. This will not appeal to all readers, readers who want pat ending, need closure, all the answers, will not find them here. Like real life sometimes there are no answers but we must go on regardless. Sometimes the person we most find hard to forgive is ourselves.
A very different read from a most talented writer. One of those stories that must be taken as a whole, where there is a much in what is not said as in what is written. Haunting.
ARC from publisher.
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sharp contrast to a shocking event. An event that will leave many reeling, reverberate through the years and touch many, even those not directly involved. it is Wade's story, a husband who loses his wife and two daughters and as a double whammy also deals with early onset Alzheimer. Is it a mercy that he can no longer quite remember the event, but still senses the feeling? Jenny, the mother who commits a terrible act in a single moment, and pays for it dearly. Anne, a younger music teacher who will come to the mountain, fall in love and marry a man with this tragic past, carry his burdens as well as her own. The themes of memory, forgiveness are strong throughout. The story goes back and forth, past, present and even the future and from person to person, not my favorite way of story telling but it works well here. Like memory the story s almost related in fragments, the reader needs to put them together, find their own way through. This will not appeal to all readers, readers who want pat ending, need closure, all the answers, will not find them here. Like real life sometimes there are no answers but we must go on regardless. Sometimes the person we most find hard to forgive is ourselves.
A very different read from a most talented writer. One of those stories that must be taken as a whole, where there is a much in what is not said as in what is written. Haunting.
ARC from publisher.
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LibraryThing member ireneattolia
a much quieter novel than the blurb implies, with some of the loveliest prose i've seen all year
LibraryThing member muddyboy
A very thought provoking novel about a married woman with two girls. She murders her youngest daughter and the second goes missing. She ends up in prison with a lengthy prison stay. Her ex husband (Wade, who has early onset dementia) remarries an accepting new wife (Ann). The novel follows their
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married life as well as his ex wife's stay in prison. Really interesting how it all pans out. It was justly deserving of the Edgar Award for best first mystery novel. Ms, Ruskovich is a rising star and I can't wait for her second book. Show Less
LibraryThing member Kristelh
I really enjoyed Idaho, debut novel by Emily Ruskovich. I listened to the audio which was a deal recently and really enjoyed this tale of family, loss and grief, and redemption. It is a bit of mystery, a bit of dementia. It lost the ToB today, and I am sorry that it did. Granted it has its flaws.
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Some things just are not explained but over all, I enjoyed it. It covers a time period of 1973 to 2025. The POV does switch around a bit, even with a blood hound taking the lead for a bit. But then our narrator, Ann, is a bit of a blood hound herself. There are things not explained such as why an person from England comes to this small town in Idaho to teach Piano. The narrator of the audio does a very good job. I enjoyed this book and am sorry it lost today to Goodbye, Vitamin. Show Less
LibraryThing member nancyadair
"In Emily Ruskovich's wizardly vision, Idaho is both a place and an emotional dimension. Haunted, haunting, her novel winds through time, braiding events and their consequences in the most unexpected and moving ways." -Andrea Barrett
If my Goodreads friends reviews were not enough, this comment by
The novel is a complicated, slow moving, intense story, delving into characters linked by love and horrific tragedy. The writing is gorgeous with no stock cliches. This is not a fast plot-driven read. It is not a happy story full of joy. It is about how people carry on living in the midst of pain.
Young marrieds Wade and Jenny had left the prairie to live on a mountain in Idaho, discovering later how isolated they were. They build a home from scratch, saved up for a plow so they could keep open the road going down the mountain in winter. They have two daughters and are happy.
Then Jenny killed their daughter May, for no apparent reason, in a thoughtless act. Wade hid their other daughter June in the forest to keep her safe, but when he returned for her she was gone, never to be found. Jenny is convicted to life in prison; she would have preferred death but remarked she should never again receive anything she wanted.
Early onset Alzheimer's disease runs in Wade's family; it caused his father's death when he wandered out and became lost in the snow. That does not stop school teacher Ann from falling in love with Wade and offering herself to be his caretaker. Wade has moments of clarity without memory, wanders off as his father did, and at times becomes dangerously violent. Wade has lost his daughters and memory of that loss, but the heartbreak of loss remains.
Ann once observed May giving a knife, made by Wade, to an older boy. She becomes obsessed with Wade's daughters and wife, the mystery of June's disappearance. The girls haunt the mountain and their home. Ann is also painfully aware of Jenny in prison.
Jenny's early self-destructive desire resolved into accepting her punishment as just. She finds the pain of scrubbing floors a soothing mortification. Without contact from the world, isolated within the prison of her own making, Jenny seeks nothing more from life. Until she decides to help her cellmate who has been banned from education classes; Jenny attends the classes, takes notes, and gives them to Elizabeth. Their friendship grows.
The story's ending is astonishing and moving and we discover Ann's power of love is truly redemptive.
Ruskovich joins the league of impressive first time published authors in 2016.
I received a free ebook from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review
If my Goodreads friends reviews were not enough, this comment by
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Andrea Barrett--whose books I enjoy--was the clincher, motivating my interest in reading it. When I finished Idaho I learned that Ruskovich had studied writing with two of my favorite writers, Marilynne Robinson and Ethan Canin.The novel is a complicated, slow moving, intense story, delving into characters linked by love and horrific tragedy. The writing is gorgeous with no stock cliches. This is not a fast plot-driven read. It is not a happy story full of joy. It is about how people carry on living in the midst of pain.
Young marrieds Wade and Jenny had left the prairie to live on a mountain in Idaho, discovering later how isolated they were. They build a home from scratch, saved up for a plow so they could keep open the road going down the mountain in winter. They have two daughters and are happy.
Then Jenny killed their daughter May, for no apparent reason, in a thoughtless act. Wade hid their other daughter June in the forest to keep her safe, but when he returned for her she was gone, never to be found. Jenny is convicted to life in prison; she would have preferred death but remarked she should never again receive anything she wanted.
Early onset Alzheimer's disease runs in Wade's family; it caused his father's death when he wandered out and became lost in the snow. That does not stop school teacher Ann from falling in love with Wade and offering herself to be his caretaker. Wade has moments of clarity without memory, wanders off as his father did, and at times becomes dangerously violent. Wade has lost his daughters and memory of that loss, but the heartbreak of loss remains.
Ann once observed May giving a knife, made by Wade, to an older boy. She becomes obsessed with Wade's daughters and wife, the mystery of June's disappearance. The girls haunt the mountain and their home. Ann is also painfully aware of Jenny in prison.
Jenny's early self-destructive desire resolved into accepting her punishment as just. She finds the pain of scrubbing floors a soothing mortification. Without contact from the world, isolated within the prison of her own making, Jenny seeks nothing more from life. Until she decides to help her cellmate who has been banned from education classes; Jenny attends the classes, takes notes, and gives them to Elizabeth. Their friendship grows.
The story's ending is astonishing and moving and we discover Ann's power of love is truly redemptive.
Ruskovich joins the league of impressive first time published authors in 2016.
I received a free ebook from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review
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LibraryThing member Narshkite
A beautiful and very literary rumination on the nature of love, the peace that comes from forgiveness, the pain of inexplicable and irredeemable choices (the backpack left on the ice [by June?] and Jenny's moment of violence), the limits and agonies of memory, and the need for human connection.
One note, this is not a thriller, the structure is non-linear, and there is a grand total of zero answers to any of the many questions the story raises. If you showed up looking for Gillian Flynn or Lianne Moriarty, you came to the wrong book.
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Ruskovich has a distinct, quiet and authoritative voice . Quiet might be the most important quality. There is so much glorious space in this prose. It made me think of Wallace Stegner and Louise Erdrich. Ruskovich writes with the confidence and restraint of a far older person, but never seems precocious -- just still and observant.One note, this is not a thriller, the structure is non-linear, and there is a grand total of zero answers to any of the many questions the story raises. If you showed up looking for Gillian Flynn or Lianne Moriarty, you came to the wrong book.
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LibraryThing member froxgirl
This novel of sadness and isolation still holds great appeal. Told from the perspectives of Jenny, a mother who for seemingly no reason kills her younger daughter, and Ann, piano teacher and second wife to Wade, the father of that girl, the solitary lives on an Idaho mountain and in prison run in
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parallel. Switching time frames from the murder in 1975 through Jenny’s release from prison in 2025, there are many mysteries here, but not about the inherent goodness of Wade, who is facing his own mortality in the form of early onset dementia. Tragedy abounds. Jenny's motive for taking May’s life remains cloudy, and the disappearance of June, the elder sister who ran away into the woods in the aftermath of her sister May’s death, is a constant festering wound for Ann and Wade. Side characters, like the sketch artist who draws aging portraits of June; Eliot, the object of Jenny’s crush, who loses a leg in an accident; Elizabeth, Jenny’s cellmate, and their devotion to each other; and even Wade’s dogs, all add to the melancholy. Show Less
LibraryThing member booklove2
I'm very glad the Morning News Tournament of Books included this on their shortlist in order for me to read it sooner. I possibly wouldn't have been aware of it at all. Sadly, 'Idaho' was also matched up in the first round against another of my favorite books about Alzheimer's and
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caregiving:'Goodbye, Vitamin' by Rachel Khong. I'm glad I wasn't the judge for that! A book with shifting perspectives, some for only a few pages, but each perspective spot on. Usually very sad but the imagery is lovely. Each word seems perfectly placed, polished, refined. Each chapter is like a jewel in a necklace, but in the end, some of these jewels aren't quite fitting with the others. There were a couple mysteries I was reading towards seeing solved. Answers aren't exactly there. But that's life. Sometimes there aren't answers. BUT this also isn't life, this is a story. However, Emily Ruskovich is amazing at images and these images will stay with me and I will go wherever Ruskovich wants me to go. I hope another book is on the way! Show Less
LibraryThing member CandyH
I did not care for this book. It was hard to follow all of the characters and keep them all straight. It just was not an easy book to read.
LibraryThing member hobbitprincess
This book does not live up to the descriptions I read on Amazon or even on the back of the book. The execution is what was lacking. I read this as a book club selection, and we all agreed that it was hard to follow. The constant jumping around in time frames was confusing. I've read other books
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that do this and haven't had a problem, but this one just eluded me. The description of the Wade's illness and its progress did not bother me at all; I actually liked the truthful descriptions and the heart-rending experiences because I found them to be very realistic. I did not understand the purpose of some of the characters and found that the addition of them only added to the confusion. I had to keep flipping back to earlier pages to find out who a few people were. One of our group listened to the audiobook and found it particularly hard to follow since flipping back wasn't an option. I appreciate the story line and the attempt at a deeper meaning, but I found several things so distracting that it took away from the story. Show Less
LibraryThing member KimMeyer
Seriously beautiful writing. Lackluster narrative drive.
Awards
Dublin Literary Award (Longlist — 2019)
Edgar Award (Nominee — First Novel — 2018)
The Morning News Tournament of Books (Short List — 2018)
Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Award (Winner — 2018)
Young Lions Fiction Award (Finalist — 2018)
Dylan Thomas Prize (Shortlist — 2018)
Idaho Book of the Year Award (Winner — 2017)
The A.V. Club best books (2017)