Ashamedly we let a new Doig slip by under our radar - Doig’s The Whistling Season was published in June 2006, and we’ve just gotten around to reading it at our place.  Without a doubt this is another one of Doig’s wonderful works, his crafty wordsmithing once again painting a picture of Montana that is right on the mark.  That’s one reason we treasure Doig so much at our place - my wife is a great fan and somewhat of an self describe authority on Doig history and lore. 

The Whistling Season is narrated by the main character, Paul Miliron, who is a precocious 13 year growing up in a widower’s household in eastern Montana along with two younger brothers.  As with all Doig stories, the landscape of Montana is as much a character in the story as any human, and Doig creates the windswept lands of Montana, its people, and the one room school house that is so central to story with such clarity you almost feel you could put the book down, walk out onto the windswept plains yourself, and see the school house in the distance. 

The story that Paul tells alternates in viewpoint between his memories as a coming of age 13 year old and his perspectives as an aging and embattled Montana state superintendent of schools who is faced with determining the fate of Montana’s one room schools (which believe it or not are still in play in Montana - we drive by one south of Bozeman as we venture to the Gallatin). 

Doig masterfully weaves into the story the arrival from Minneapolis of a housekeeper, Rose, and her surprising (in many ways) brother, Morgan.  This is one novel where to explain much further might impact your enjoyment of the story - suffice it to say both Rose and Morrie add rich, mysterious, and unanticipated twists in this engaging story.

I’ve been surprised to read some reader reviews of this book on the web and find a couple of readers unhappy with the somewhat surprising end to the book.  My simple minded explanation is that there are always readers that expect life, both real and imagined, to have a fairy tale ending.  Maybe life works that way where you live, but it only occasionally does here in Montana today, and I’d guess the Montana of 1909 was even a bit less forgiving.  Take my word for it - the story ends masterfully. 

If you’ve enjoyed any of Doig’s works before- you’ll treasure this one. 

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