Book Description

Ali Stephenson has it all--a secure position at Southern Style Magazine where she's risen to the ranks of managing editor, and all the trappings that a six-figure salary makes possible. She has good friends, practices yoga daily, and takes long strolls on the beach near her home on the Chesapeake Bay. Yet, little does she know, she's about to be set-up to take over Joe Driscoll's role as publisher. Before that occurs, however, Joe sends Ali on assignment to write about fly fishing on the Lower Laguna Madre in deep South Texas. There, Ali is forced to face a past that she has been diligently keeping at bay. Like many women, Ali has a history of choosing unavailable men, stemming from childhood wounding by an abusive father who murdered her mother, leaving her to be raised by her grandparents in the Blue Ridge Mountains. However, all of that changes when the feisty lodge owner, Mama Kate, who has a deep devotion to the divine feminine, challenges Ali to face her demons and embrace her inner wisdom. The Whispered Teachings of Grandmother Trout is best described as the feminine version of A River Runs Through It, combining nature, spirituality, and the complexity of navigating human relationships. While it is a woman's coming of age novel, men connect with the prominent male characters, especially Captain Jack Cooper, Ali's fly-fishing guide, and Gus Gammons, Mama Kate's faithful companion, whose complicated relationship with Kate mirrors Ali's resistance to trust her.