Mothertrucker, Amy Butcher
Mothertrucker, Amy Butcher
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Mothertrucker
Finding Joy on the Loneliest Road in America

Author: Amy Butcher

Narrator: Amy Butcher

Unabridged: 8 hr 27 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 11/01/2021

Synopsis

The true story of two women who found meaning, strength, and friendship in one of the most punishing and magnificent landscapes on earth.Amy Butcher was an accomplished college professor, mentor, and writer, but in her own home, she was embarrassed and emotionally burdened by an increasingly abusive relationship. Exhausted and terrified of the ways her partner’s behavior could escalate, Amy reached out to Instagram celebrity Joy “Mothertrucker” Wiebe. Joy was a fifty-year-old wife and mother and the nation’s only female ice road trucker, a woman who maneuvered big rigs through the Alaskan wilderness along the deadliest road in America. Joy was everything Amy wanted to be: independent, fearless, and in charge of her life in a landscape dominated by men. Invited by Joy to ride shotgun, Amy found her escape on a road that was treacherous, beautiful, and exhilarating—an adventurous ride through the Alaskan wilderness that was profoundly life changing.Mothertrucker is the story of that bracing four-hundred-mile journey navigating snow-glazed overpasses, ice-blue curves, and near plummets. It’s also the stories that led them both to Alaska—an interrogation of the reality of female fear, domestic violence, and how to overcome—and an exploration into just how galvanizing friendships between women can be.

About Amy Butcher

Amy Butcher is the author of Visiting Hours and an essayist whose work has appeared in the New York Times, Granta, Harper’s, The Iowa Review, Lit Hub, Guernica, Brevity, and others. Excerpts of Mothertrucker, which is currently being developed into a major motion picture, earned a 2020 Individual Excellence Award from the Ohio Arts Council, and Amy’s additional work has benefited from awards and grants from the Vermont Studio Center, the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts, the Stanley Awards for International Research, and the Olive B. O’Connor Fellowship in Creative Writing from Colgate University. She earned her MFA from the University of Iowa and presently serves as the director of creative writing and an associate professor of English at Ohio Wesleyan University. Amy teaches annually at the Iowa Summer Writing Festival and the Sitka Fine Arts Camp in Sitka, Alaska, and she lives in Ohio with her three rescue dogs, beautiful beasts. For more information visit www.amyebutcher.com.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Rick on October 10, 2021

Although I suspect the target market for this book is women and domestic abuse survivors (of which I am neither), I found this true-life account absorbing, thought-provoking, and ultimately moving enough to inspire tears. This is one of the best books I've read put out under an Amazon imprint. Chron......more

Goodreads review by Marianne on October 07, 2021

This book had more to do with examining one's faith in God and relationships than about Alaska. From the title and cover I expected more about the landscape, challenges and beauty of Alaska, but I was disappointed. It would appeal most to religious readers.......more

Goodreads review by Corinne on October 08, 2021

It seemed to me that the story of Joy in this book serves only as a vehicle (no pun intended, but I'll embrace it) for Butcher to analyze her own life. Joy is constantly pushed aside so Butcher can focus on herself. That is perfectly fine. This is her book. I would prefer less picking at the scab of......more

Goodreads review by Valerity (Val) on October 07, 2021

This book is about a budding friendship that began online between Amy Butcher, and Ohio college professor/writer, and the woman known as “MotherTrucker”, Joy Wiebe. When Amy needs to bail out of her relationship as she begins spiraling down from Dave becoming ever darker and more dangerous to her, s......more

Goodreads review by Provin on May 27, 2022

Mother trucker is a hard book to review. On one hand I give five stars to the story of Joy Wiebe, An all American woman working as a truck driver on the dangerous Dalton highway in Alaska. Joy was a gift to this world always encouraging and supporting others and gently laying the word of God upon th......more

Quotes

“A sobering reflection on verbal and psychological abuse, Butcher’s book honors the healing power of female friendship and questions the nature of divinity beyond its constricting patriarchal manifestations. A searching and deeply empathetic memoir.” —Kirkus Reviews“In this tender and gripping tale, essayist Butcher (Visiting Hours) recounts her unlikely adventure through Alaska with the country’s only female ice trucker, the late Joy “Mothertrucker” Wiebe…Along the way, Butcher explores myriad issues with nuance and grace, including Indigenous rights, violence against women, religious hypocrisy, and environmental concerns. It’s a trip readers won’t soon forget.” —Publishers Weekly“[Butcher] brings the details to vivid life as she describes both the brutally beautiful landscape and the many people she and Joy met on their brief journey together. A moving account of the impact of connection between women.” —Booklist

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