Philip Weyman heads south through the Arctic wilderness with a fierce, relieved joy, eager to leave years of loneliness at the edge of the world behind him. As autumn blazes across the North, he reflects on the hard lessons of frontier life and the ache that has shadowed him there: "God's Country" is never complete without a woman. But a bear track, a hidden valley, and the sound of water lead him off course—and into a startling encounter with a white woman kneeling alone beside a pool, beautiful, frightened, and clearly hiding from someone. The meeting draws Philip into a dangerous mystery of secrecy, trust, and longing. The woman, Josephine, gradually yields to his sincerity, while Philip, starved for human connection, offers help without reward and finds himself transformed by his feelings for her. Their tense intimacy is deepened by the guidance of Jean, whose graveyard of children and loved ones reveals a life shaped by loss, mercy, and devotion. Philip then enters the home of John Adare, a brilliant wilderness naturalist whose books, specimens, and blunt wisdom embody the North itself, and whose concern for his ailing wife Miriam adds another layer of tenderness to this rugged frontier world. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.