Family life does not become a mountaineer. Yet for 18 years and dozens of world-class ascents, climber Alex Lowe and his wife, Jennifer, were making it work—until Alex died in an avalanche on Shishapangma in October 1999. In this honest memoir, Jennifer shares excerpts from the letters and e-mails Alex sent her over the years and explains how, after he died, she married his best friend, climber Conrad Anker. "With Conrad," she writes, "I could continue to follow the path I had chosen with Alex, of adventure and passion and determination to live our dreams." (THE MOUNTAINEERS BOOKS, $25)