British Columbia Woman Tells Reel-Life Regional Stories

Although several anthologies of fishing literature by women have received national attention, there’s a sleeper book in our midst by a woman who’s plied the waters along with other Inland Northwest anglers.

“Reading the Water: Stories and Essays of Flyfishing and Life” by Mallory Burton (Keokee Co. Publishing of Sandpoint, $13.95) is coy, funny, profound, subtle, clever and 100 percent about fishing as it applies to life.

“Unlike fish, men do not always disappear obligingly when you let them go,” she writes in one story.

While much of the book is fiction, all of it is true.

Burton, daughter of a Canadian hockey player and fishing guide, lives in British Columbia and works as a teacher.

But she tells of fishing the Missouri in Montana as though it were home. The book compiles stories written for major fly-fishing publications.

Fly-fishers of both genders will find it delicious to read.

, DataTimes MEMO: See related story under the headline: Book provides a fresh angle on fishing