Roger Neumaier

A Home in the Bitterroot Roger Neumaier

Bill Amley is an awkward man leading a lonely life. In late December of 2019, just before the Coronavirus changes the world around him, the fifty-six-year-old realizes his life is empty and decides to throw his fate to the wind. Bill leaves his job, sells most of what he owns, buys an SUV and heads out west to points unknown. Having resolved to change the way he lives, Bill picks up a hitch-hiker, a young Native American woman named Sky who is seeking to escape her own set of life's challenges. As they head west, Sky and Bill form an unusual and powerful friendship. Their trip ends in Missoula, Montana where Sky becomes a waitress and Bill buys a small farm surrounded by the beauty of the Bitterroot Mountains. There, the pandemic threatens their lives while Bill is introduced to the spirits and histories of others who once lived in that farmhouse and on the lands that surround it.




A Home in the Bitterroot explores the rich history of immigrants to the Bitterroot Valley and of the Salish People whose historical home was the Bitterroot. Bill and Sky's stories, the pandemic, social intolerance and ghosts of the past combine to make A Home in the Bitterroot a satisfying, compelling and truthful American tale.