For this shorter, “mini” episode of The Write Question, journalist and novelist Alix Christie discusses The Shining Mountains (High Road Books), which centers a young Scotsman, Angus Macdonald, who’s contracted to British masters to trade for fur. But the world he discovers is far beyond even a Highlander’s wildest imagination. The Rocky Mountain West of 1838 will soon be torn apart by competing claims: between British fur traders, American settlers, and the Indigenous populations who have lived for millennia in the valleys and plateaus of the Shining Mountains’ western slopes.
Note: Alix will be touring the novel throughout Montana during the month of June, 2023. See her here—
- June 12: Hamilton, Chapter One Bookstore;
- June 14: Ronan, Salish Kootenai College;
- June 17-18: St. Ignatius, Ft. Connah Rendezvous;
- June 19: Missoula, Fact & Fiction;
- June 20: Helena, Lewis & Clark Library;
- June 22: Bozeman, Isle of Books;
- June 23: Livingston, Elk River Books;
About Alix:
Alix Christie grew up in California, Montana, and British Columbia. She is a prize-winning journalist and author of novels, reportage, and short stories. She currently lives in California, where she covers culture for The Economist, prints on a letterpress, and swims in San Francisco Bay.
Alix Christie recommends:
Anything by Jim Harrison, especially Dalva (Grove Press) and The Road Home (Washington Square Press)
Anything by Louise Erdrich, from LaRose to the Master Butchers Singing Club to The Night Watchman (HarperCollins)
Perma Red and The Lost Journals of Sacajewea by Debra Magpie Earling (Milkweed Editions)
“The Neapolitan Novels” by Elena Ferrante; start with Book 1, My Brilliant Friend (Europa Editions)
“The Cromwell Trilogy” (also called the Wolf Hall trilogy) by Hilary Mantel; start with Book 1, Wolf Hall (Picador USA)
Mecca by Susan Straight (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
Lauren Korn recommends:
The Shining Mountains (High Road Books)
The Lost Journals of Sacajewea by Debra Magpie Earling (Milkweed Editions)
Ridgeline by Michael Punke (Henry Holt & Company)
Burning the Breeze: Three Generations of Women in the American West by Lisa Hendrickson (Bison Books)
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The Write Question team for this episode was Lauren Korn, host, co-producer, and editor; and Chris Moyles, engineer.
The Write Question logo and brand (2022) was designed by Molly Russell. You can see more of her work at iamthemollruss.com and on Instagram @iamthemollruss. Our music was written and recorded by John Floridis.
Funding for The Write Question comes from Humanities Montana; members of Montana Public Radio; and from the Greater Montana Foundation—encouraging communication on issues, trends, and values of importance to Montanans.
The Write Question is a production of Montana Public Radio.
