Montana 1948

Summary

“From the summer of my twelfth year I carry a series of images more vivid and lasting than any others of my boyhood and indelible beyond all attempts the years make to erase or fade them.”

So begins Larry Watson’s modern classic, widely recognized as both “one of the top 100 novels of the West” (San Francisco Chronicle) and “a significant and elegant addition to contemporary American fiction in general” (Washington Post). The novel tells the story of the cataclysmic summer of 1948, when the charges of a young Sioux woman force David Hayden’s father, the sheriff of their small town, to confront his older brother, a charming war hero and respected doctor. As the small town takes sides, David witnesses the unraveling of his family brought on by the revelation of a simple truth.

An astonishing tale of love and courage, Montana 1948 asks what it means to make the terrible choice between family loyalty and justice.