This House of Sky is Ivan Doig's story about growing up in Montana. When Doig was six, his mother died, leaving his father, rancher and cowboy Charlie Doig, and maternal grandmother, the stalwart Bessie Ringer, to raise him. Times were hard and work was difficult. But they found the strength to endure in their love for one another and a gritty determination to survive. They were, Doig believes, relics of an earlier time and another lifestyle - uncomplaining, unquestioning, accepting the western land with all its hardships and beauty.
But Doig's Montana isn't bleak - it's filled with humor, laughter, and funny, memorable characters whose lives are played out against this big, wild land. Lacing his vivid narration with poetic interludes, Doig masterfully crafts a remarkable memoir. This House of Sky speaks many truths about family, love, loss, and the landscapes that mold us all.