A biography of Mary Austin that explores her life and achievement. It tells the larger story of the importance of California and the Southwest to the American consciousness.
"Finally, a book that does Mary Austin justice in all her complexity and takes her seriously as a challenging and varied writer."-Melody Graulich, coeditor of Exploring Lost Borders
"A wonderful wide-angle view of an era in the American West and its literary, artistic, and anthropological figures."-Robert D. Richardson Jr., author of Henry Thoreau: A Life of the Mind
"This well-researched book is recommended."