First published 1988
Ben Tate watches the bulldozers tear into the prairie grass outside Big Sky, Montana. The old rancher has seen enough changes in his seventy years to know this won't be the last. Developers promise prosperity with their golf courses and condominiums. The locals argue about progress versus preservation in the saloon where Ben has drunk beer for decades. His daughter Sarah wants him to sell the family ranch and move to town. His grandson Tommy talks about environmental protection with the passion of youth. Ben remembers when cattle outnumbered people and the land stretched empty to the horizon. Now tourists arrive daily, seeking the authentic West while transforming it into something else entirely. As the community splits between old-timers and newcomers, Ben must decide whether to fight the changes or accept them. The choice will determine not just his own future, but the fate of everything he has spent a lifetime protecting.
Genres: family-life, american-fiction, 20th-century, american, contemporary, 21st-century
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: coming-of-age, family-drama, generational-conflict
Setting: Big Sky, Montana
Period: 20th Century, 21st Century
187 pages · Hardcover · UNKNO