Wilderness Mother: A Memoir of 13 Years Off the Grid

Revised and updated 30th anniversary edition of the wilderness classic of raising a young family in the remote wilds of northern Canada. In 1978 Deanna met her hermit husband in Northern B.C. while she was working as a forestry lookout attendant. For the next thirteen years she led the life of a pioneering mother in the wilderness. Over a hundred miles from the nearest paved road and cut off from most contact with the outside world, Deanna and her husband Jay built a life and raised their children in the stunning beauty and staggering isolation of the Ningunsaw Valley. She describes the family’s remarkable self-sufficiency in constructing their home, growing and harvesting their own food and eventually building a small dam to generate electricity. But the unrelenting work of a pioneer life is balanced with her deep love and connection to the natural world that surrounds them. Deanna has been a naturalist her whole life and nature breathes as a character in each of her books. This new edition includes chapters that expand on her relationship with Jay, his mental health challenges and the break-up of their marriage. Thirty years ago, these subjects were less discussed but in this new,
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Deanna Barnhardt Kawatski is the author of nine books and numerous magazine articles. Her life has been the subject of two CBC television documentaries as well as numerous magazine articles. In 1992 Deanna and her children returned to the Shuswap where her roots reach back over one hundred years. In 1996 she joined her new partner, Eric, on Garland Gracesprings Farm and it has been home ever since. She is a popular workshop presenter and has given over one hundred public readings. Deanna, a grandmother now, continues to live close to the earth and to defend it when she can.