As young women in the 1970's, Ida and Martha forged a deep bond of friendship before life led them in different directions. Now at the age of seventy-two, Ida makes a leap of faith by uprooting her life in Boulder, Colorado to move with her dog to the Big Sky area of Montana to help Martha and her daughter run a guest ranch. In her new rural surroundings, Ida finds serenity and happiness until she is thrown off balance by an unexpected romantic attraction. In this lyrical novel, themes of unique friendships, emotional entanglements, spirituality, love and loss are explored with perceptive insight in the old growth of the main characters' later years. With vividly evoked settings, rich characterization, and a celebratory spirit, Ida and Martha presents appealing characters facing aging with humor, heart, and what our grandmothers would have called "good old-fashioned moral fiber."...