Having strong emotional responses to situations - situations that are not THAT uncommon - is one thing, but turning your life upside down for decades is quite another, especially when very little, if any, of your other behavior indicates similar behavior. I would easily have given this book an extra star in the rating if not for two aspects: obsessive behavior by two of its key characters that is not, in my opinion, adequately explained, and thus, not adequately justified.
Neither book lets you get bored, but there is a extra drive to this one that comes from narrating so many years of making a life. Perhaps, it is this "epic" quality that gives this book a more mature feel to it from the first volume. Moreover, while the trilogy is its own epic story in total, this book is epic in its own right, as it takes the first McCaskill from the shores of Scotland and ages him through many decades as a sheep rancher, teacher, husband, and father. While it followed the first book, English Creek, in publication, the setting is really the beginning of the McCaskill saga. This is the second book in the fictional trilogy of the McCaskill family of Montana. Over the years, their relationship waxes and wanes as together with their families they try to survive in an unforgiving land. The friends become business partners, but things begin to sour when Rob Barclay brings his young sister over from Scotland, with an eye toward making a match between her and Angus McCaskill, not realizing that Angus has fallen deeply in love with another woman. (Readers of "The Bartender's Tail" will recognize much of the locale.) It follows the lives of two young Scotsmen who emigrate to Montana in the late 1800s and homestead in the beautiful but cruel "Two Medicine River" country where he has set other work. Reviews mention that this book is part of Doig's "Montana Trilogy", but it stands very well alone. Once I dumped the eyesight-killer and laid hands on a large-print copy, things went much better! It was set in an extremely heavy and ornate font, at about a 9-point size, and I could only read it for a few minutes before developing an eyestrain headache.)
(Initially, I had a copy of the Penguin edition, and it was the first book I've ever given up on because of its physical design. Okay, this is a real review of the book I actually read.
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