Wilderness Mother (30th Anniversary Edition)

A Memoir of 13 Years Off the Grid

By Deanna Barnhardt Kawatski

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BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY

242 Pages, 6 x 9

Formats: Trade Paper

Trade Paper, $24.95 (US $24.95)

Publication Date: October 2025

ISBN 9781553807308

Rights: WOR X CA

Ronsdale Press (Oct 2025)

Price:	$24.95

Overview

Revised and updated 30th anniversary edition of the wilderness classic of raising a young family in the remote wilds of northern Canada. In 1978 Deanna met her hermit husband in Northern B.C. while she was working as a forestry lookout attendant. For the next thirteen years she led the life of a pioneering mother in the wilderness. Over a hundred miles from the nearest paved road and cut off from most contact with the outside world, Deanna and her husband Jay built a life and raised their children in the stunning beauty and staggering isolation of the Ningunsaw Valley. She describes the family's remarkable self-sufficiency in constructing their home, growing and harvesting their own food and eventually building a small dam to generate electricity. But the unrelenting work of a pioneer life is balanced with her deep love and connection to the natural world that surrounds them. Deanna has been a naturalist her whole life and nature breathes as a character in each of her books. This new edition includes chapters that expand on her relationship with Jay, his mental health challenges and the break-up of their marriage. Thirty years ago, these subjects were less discussed but in this new

Reviews

"Kawatski tells her absorbing tale in eloquent prose." —Publishers Weekly

“To read Wilderness Mother is to step back into a time when courage and honesty and integrity were not yet verging on extinction. Deanna Kawatski’s hope-filled, generous and joyous voice deserves its resurgence.” —Wayne Johnston, Author of Jennie's Boy and The Colony of Unrequited Dreams

“Wilderness Mother is nothing less than Canada’s Walden.” —Alex Forbes, Professor, poet, author of After the Moon a Blue Ocean

“Required reading for those who dream of stepping away from technology to live life and raise kids by the rhythm of nature.” —Grant Lawrence, CBC broadcaster and author of Adventures in Solitude

“What a pleasure to have this classic re-issued for a new age, and to remind readers everywhere that there’s a big world out there waiting to be found!” —Bill McKibben, Author of Here Comes the Sun

"A remarkable tale told by a strong woman and compelling writer with powerful descriptive skills." —Winnipeg Free Press

Author Biography

Deanna Barnhardt Kawatski is the author of nine books and numerous magazine articles. Her life has been the subject of two CBC television documentaries as well as numerous magazine articles. In 1992 Deanna and her children returned to the Shuswap where her roots reach back over one hundred years. In 1996 she joined her new partner, Eric, on Garland Gracesprings Farm and it has been home ever since. She is a popular workshop presenter and has given over one hundred public readings. Deanna, a grandmother now, continues to live close to the earth and to defend it when she can.

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