This accomplished debut recounts Lockwood’s childhood growing up on a ranch in the high country of Washington in the 1950s and ‘60s, with a mother who struggles with schizophrenia and an often-absent father. Lockwood traces her growing independence on the farm, together with the family stress from her mother’s chronic mental illness, as “a wild and thrilling and sometimes terrifying series of adventures,” where she learns essential ranch skills like riding horses and caring for the family’s animals, all while tolerating a bullying older brother and “navigating the mysteries of Mother Nature and human nature with very little guidance and almost no supervision.” Lockwood’s recollections of her childhood memories as an adult are powerful, wrought in her careful tracing of her mother’s medical history—including researching common schizophrenia treatments of the era—and attempt at reconciling with her brother, all in hopes of framing her younger years against a desperate “search for truth.” Her mother’s poetry—written before the disease, and its treatments, become too overwhelming—helps with that search, and Lockwood quotes her musings often: “After our long cold winter days, // How we welcome each spring! // All life throbs and wakens now” her mother pens of their early time on the ranch.
The beauty and excitement of living on Sky Ranch is eloquently rendered in Lockwood’s narrative, with the thread of natural beauty—and the close animal relationships that went along with that—layered against the acknowledgment of her mother’s illness—and the challenges it raised for herself and her family. Lockwood’s grief when she watches her mother sink into depression and lose her joy is palpable, a heartbreaking reminder of the toll that mental illness can take on its victims and their loved ones. As much a love letter to her family ranch as a tribute to her mother’s arduous and painful journey, this stunning memoir will transfix.
Takeaway: Moving homage to ranch life and the impact of mental illness on family.
Comparable Titles: Patrick Dylan’s Safe, Wanted, and Loved, Karen Comba’s The Snipers We Couldn't See.
Production grades
Cover: A-
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: A-
