First published 2001
Kathleen Norris opens her world on the Dakota plains, where wind cuts across endless grass and small towns dot the horizon. She finds prayer in ordinary moments and discovers how landscape shapes the people who live within it. The harsh winters and blazing summers of this region forge a particular way of being, one that Norris explores through her daily encounters with neighbors, weather, and solitude. She examines how place enters our bones and changes how we see ourselves. The desolate beauty of Dakota becomes a teacher, showing her that spiritual geography forms wherever we choose to pay attention. Through her careful observations of prairie life, Norris reveals how the land both challenges and nurtures those who call it home.
Genres: nature, 20th-century, american, non-fiction, biography-memoir, 21st-century
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: nature-as-character, sense-of-place
Setting: Dakota, Prairie
Period: 20th-Century, 21st-Century
256 pages · Paperback · HarperOne