Idaho’s landscapes, from its deep lakes and rugged mountains to its small towns, have inspired some truly memorable stories. If you’re looking for fiction that brings this state to life, here are six books where Idaho is more than just a setting; it’s almost a character itself.
This story follows two sisters, Ruth and Lucille. They live in the small town of Fingerbone, Idaho, right beside a deep, cold lake where a train once derailed. After their mother dies, their unusual Aunt Sylvie arrives to look after them.
Sylvie has unconventional ways; she collects stacks of newspapers, leaves the doors and windows open, and seems almost more comfortable outdoors than in. The house itself changes under her care, sometimes even letting the lake water creep inside.
It’s a story about finding your place, the idea of home, and how different people drift towards stability or wildness, all centered around that imposing Idaho lake.
Wallace Stegner takes us back through time in this novel. A wheelchair-bound historian, Lyman Ward, researches the life of his grandmother, Susan Burling Ward. Susan was a refined artist and writer from the East Coast.
She followed her husband, a mining engineer, across the American West. Part of their journey unfolds in Idaho’s challenging frontier environment.
Through Susan’s letters and illustrations, Lyman uncovers her adaptation to rough mining camps, her artistic ambitions, and the difficulties faced in her marriage against the backdrop of late 19th-century western expansion.
This short book packs a lot into the life of Robert Grainier. He’s a laborer in the Idaho Panhandle during the early twentieth century. He helps build bridges and works on the railroad.
His life is marked by hard work and profound loss, especially concerning his wife and daughter during a forest fire. Grainier exists in the vast Idaho wilderness, and the story captures moments of quiet existence, encounters with nature, and a deep sense of solitude.
There are memorable scenes, like a strange tale involving a “wolf-girl,” that stick with you long after you finish reading.
Zane Grey delivers a classic Western adventure here. Jim Cleve feels scorned and decides to leave civilization behind. He rides into the mountainous Idaho wilderness and falls in with a notorious band of outlaws known as the Border Legion. Life is harsh and dangerous.
Jim’s path crosses with Joan Randle, a brave young woman who finds herself in serious trouble in the same lawless territory. It’s a story full of action, tough choices, survival against the elements, and the moral conflicts that arise in Idaho’s untamed borderlands.
Set in the fictional town of Excellent, Idaho, around the turn of the century, this book introduces Shed. He’s a young, bisexual boy with mixed Native American and white heritage who doesn’t quite know where he belongs.
He finds work, and a sort of family, at the local brothel run by the formidable Ida Richilieu. Shed tries to piece together the story of his parentage and identity. He meets an incredible cast of characters, including the philosophical prostitute Alma Hatch.
The story explores love, identity, prejudice, and the search for connection within this unique Idaho community.
This novel puts Danny Wright, a teenager in the Idaho National Guard, in an impossible situation. During a protest in Boise, an event triggers a major confrontation between the state of Idaho and the federal government. Danny is right in the middle.
He faces immense pressure from his community, his commanding officers, and his conscience. The story unfolds quickly in his small Idaho town. Danny must navigate divided loyalties and the consequences of actions that spiral far beyond his control.
It makes you think about duty and patriotism when state and country seem to be at odds.