“10 Best Books of June!”

-Christian Science Monitor

“A narrative that reads like a captivating novel… Hers is a voice not found often enough in literature - a woman who eschews the prescribed role outlined for her by her family and discovers her own path.”

-Joan Gaylord, Christian Science Monitor

“ROUGH BEAUTY indeed. The passages about fire knocked my hat off. Terrifying yet lovely. Karen Auvinen is an American maverick. Vital, wild and true.”

-Luis Alberto Urrea, Author of The House of Broken Angels

“This beautiful and elemental book is an invitation into a life of nature and ritual. There are many books about seasons in the wilderness but this is one about a life in it. Rough Beauty has the power to change lives. It stands as an antidote to the hurried way we rush through our days.”

- David Gessner, New York Times Bestselling author of All That Remains: Edward Abbey, Wallace Stegner and the American West

“Outstanding… The author has served a long apprenticeship - sensing life’s patterns, becoming embedded in a human community, learning to give and receive love - and the result is a beautiful story of resilience perfect for readers of Terry Tempest Williams.”

-Kirkus, starred review

“Beautiful, contemplative… This breathtaking memoir honors the wildness of the Rockies.”

- Publishers Weekly, starred review

“An essential purchase!”

- Library Journal, starred review

“Karen Auvinen has the heart of a poet and pioneer grit, and Rough Beauty is a wrenchingly evocative memoir. It is a story of loss, but it is also a story of transformation, of finding shards of hope among the ashes and moving forward with gratitude and grace and courage.”

- James Campbell, author of Braving It and The Final Frontiersman