Last Bus To Wisdom: A Novel

Last Bus to Wisdom, a New York Times bestseller, was the 16th and final novel by Ivan Doig, who died prior to the book’s 2015 release. The novel is also the last to take place in the fictional Two Medicine Country, Montana, in which Doig set 11 other novels. Though the main character, Donal Cameron, is 11 years old, the book is intended for adult audiences. The coming-of-age story and fictional travelogue follows a summer-long series of excursions Donal takes via Greyhound bus in 1951. When his grandmother must undergo surgery requiring a lengthy rehabilitation, Donal must first ride from a ranch in rural Montana, where his grandmother is the cook, to Manitowoc, Wisconsin, where he is to stay with a great aunt whom he has never met. Within a few weeks, his frustrated Aunt Kate puts him on the Greyhound headed back to Montana. To Donal’s surprise, Aunt Kate’s husband, Herman, joins Donal, proclaiming that he has always wanted to see the West. A series of adventures, calamities, and sheer luck eventually leads them to the farming community of Wisdom, Montana, where they hope to find a safe, permanent place to dwell. Born and raised in rural Montana, Doig writes from his personal memories and