Wilderness Mother

They met at a fire tower in a remote corner of Northwestern British Columbia where the author was a lookout attendant. He was the local hermit, a homesteader in the Nengunsaw Valley. A year later, they married and for the next 13 years they lived as 19th-century pioneers had. Their cabin, without running water or electricity, was more than 100 miles from a paved road; it was a three-mile walk across boggy ground from any road. Kawatski has written about wilderness life for Mother Earth News and other journals. Here she focuses on bearing two children and raising them in isolated conditions. The family was remarkably self-sufficient, building their home, growing their food, making their clothing. Moose, bears and wolves were frequent visitors. But isolation brought problems that broke up the marriage. Kawatski, who loved the wilderness life and left regretfully with the children for civilization, tells her absorbing tale in eloquent prose. (Apr.)