Amity Gaige

Fiction 2025 | 325 pages

The pink bandana.  A small item, that plays a large part.  I was surprised at the climax.  I did not quite see the situation resolving the way it did ...

Valerie Gillis is a 42-year-old woman, her trail name is Sparrow, who becomes lost near the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail, while hiking the AT.  She is not a highly competent outdoors woman.  She doesn't know how to start a fire with the six matches she has.  And yet Lieutenant Bev Miller, one of Maine's few women game wardens, leads her teams of hundreds and hundreds of searchers in the Maine woods, searching for Valerie.

As with Sea Wife by the same author, just a few blog posts ago, Gaige creates strong and nuanced characters.  We learn much about the personalities, motivations, and inspirations of both Valerie and Bev.  There are other supporting characters, including Valerie’s partner, her parents, other hikers who are interviewed, and some of the searchers.  But I think my favorite of the supporting characters is Lena, and older woman in a wheel chair who lives in an assisted living community and gets the idea that she knows something about the case of the missing Ms. Gillis.  She is quirky, brilliant, delightful.

We follow the journey over many days (I won’t say how many; that wood be a spoiler!) until a resolution is reached.  The resolution is satisfying and fills the gaps.  In the meantime, we also learn about the unique fortitude and quirkiness of Mainers.

No question, read this book, especially if you like the woods, and enjoy good writing!

May 2026