Gone Feral: Tracking My Dad Through the Wild

Carpenter's memoir begins with a phone call. Her father, who has been absent most of her life, had gone missing. Concurrently, as Carpenter confronts her urge to begin a family, the desire to build a stronger bond with her father takes shape. "Would he even care? I wasn't sure, but I knew before I tried to start a family of my own, I needed to try to make things right with Dad." Carpenter's excavation into her parent's story, begins with their romance in Mexico followed by their early-married life on a remote Idaho homestead. After her parent's 1976 divorce, her father's wish for freedom trumped his desire to parent. Close examination of her parent's life together, uncovers links between their living off the land ethos and her urban farming pursuits chronicled in her first book. (Farm City) "The closer I looked at my parents' past, the better I was able to see the parallels in my own life." Carpenter's engaging blend of memories, intimate descriptions of uncomfortable visits with her father, conversations with her family friends and old photographs, provides a solid foundation for her narrative. Carpenter's candid appraisal of her metamorphosis from daughter to mother, coupled with a probing examination of the boundaries of parental love will be applauded by both fans and those unfamiliar with her work. (June)