To the Bright Edge of the World - Eowen Ivey's Second Brilliant Alaskan Novel

To the Bright End of the World is Eowen Ivey's second brilliant novel set in Alaska, which I loved just as much as her first. (You can read my review of The Snow Child here).
As I read this fictional account of a real expedition northwards along the Copper River to the Yukon to survey the land for the US government, I could sense the rush of the melting Wolverine River as it sped past me through the towering snowy mountains and the deep granite gorge.

Told in a scrapbook style with diary entries, photographs, drawings, letters and newspaper cuttings, I followed Lieutenant-Colonel Allen Forrester, Lieutenant Andrew Pruitt, and Sergeant Bradley Tillman with their helpers, Samuelson and Boyd, two trappers who know the terrain, and Nat'aaggi, an Indian woman, through the dangerous valley populated by the Midnoosky Indians, named by the Russians on a previous disastrous attempt to find a way through to the Yukon,

The main diary entries are those of Allen and his wife, Sophie. He tells of the responsibility of leading his men through such tough terrain and the difficulties they are encountering, whilst she tells of her frustration of becoming pregnant and being forced to stay behind at the Vancouver Barracks. She had been desperate to accompany him on the greatest exploration since Lewis and Clarke crossed the Great Divide, but is left attending tea parties with the other gossipy and nosy army wives. However, she sadly loses her baby, and knowing it's months before Allen's return, she teaches herself photography, helped by her Irish maid, Charlotte, to focus her mind on something else.

One of the most poignant aspects of the novel is that structurally there is a time gap between the letters Allen sends to Sophie, and her to him, due to relying on the Indians to convey them to the coast, illustrating their frustration, and the fact that their news was therefore months old.

I also very much enjoyed the present day correspondence between Allen and Sophie's great-nephew, Walt, and Josh, the young curator at the Alpine Museum, Alaska. Walt sends a letter, in advance of sending Allen and Sophie's letters, diaries and other artefacts from the expedition in the hope that the museum will accept them and put them on display. It all starts off very formally, and then the relationship between the old-timer and the young curator develops as they get to know each other better and learn more about each other's life.

One theme in the book is birds, for example, the raven, and also the hummingbird: one of the Midsookies is a mysterious raven-like old man with a top hat; and Sophie's aim as a photographer is to take a picture of some hummingbirds in a nest. Another theme is light, reflected in the title, and a special sort of light that Sophie is searching for in her photography after seeing the marble bear that her father sculpted in the forest seemingly come alive with the setting sun.

This is a totally engrossing novel: it's totally captivating to discover whether Allen and his men will make the five hundred miles up the river before the ice melts, through the canyon, and over the mountains, and then another thousand miles to the ship that will take him home again to his beloved Sophie.

     

A Heart-rending Read: The Light Between Oceans by ML Stedman

There have been so many excellent books around this year, and here's another!
I bought The Light Between Oceans by ML Stedman because the story's premise is the same as The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey (you can read about it in my blog here): a childless Alaskan couple find a child in the snow and claim it as their own. However, you're kept guessing as to whether it's a real child or not. In The Light Between Oceans the child that's washed up on the beach of the Janus lighthouse is not only real, but it also belongs to someone else. . .
The strength of the book is in its characters: Tom, a troubled hero from the First World War, now a lighthouse keeper and Isabel, his wife who suffers three miscarriages, Isabel's family, Hannah's family, their friends and the police in this close knit community and, little Lucy.
ML Steadman tells the story from each one's point of view, and as I read it my heart was tugged in all directions as they tried to sort out the right solution for everyone.
As it says on the cover:
This is a story about right and wrong and how sometimes they look the same...
It is a truly captivating, gripping story, beautifully told and one you must not miss! There's also a film coming shortly, I can't wait!

You Really Must Read The Snow Child by Eowen Ivey!

Eowyn Ivey was named after Éowen a 'shieldmaiden' in The Lord of the Rings. She's so glad that they made the films so everyone knows at last how her name is pronounced - rather like Ay-wun! Now you know that, you must read her first novel,  The Snow Child! 
I caught up with her on Monday at The Wallingford Bookshop, where she had come all the way from Alaska to sign copies for waiting fans. A bookseller, herself, she was on a mission to visit several bookshops on her 'Snow Day', although at 9.30 am it had only just stopped raining! But as she drove along, she listened to Christmas CDs and Alison, who runs the shop, provided mince pies and other Christmas nibbles.
Now, back to the book itself, the quotes on the cover call it 'Spellbinding' and 'Enchanting', and I have to agree.
It's a fairy story for adults, though I think that young adults would enjoy it too, based on the traditional tale of  Snegudrochka or Little Daughter of the Snow as told by Arthur Ransome in Old Peter's Russian Tales.
In the story, an older couple, unable to have any children, build a little girl in the snow who comes to life.
Eowyn tells this story with beautiful imagery about the barren Alaskan winter, reflecting poor Mabel's sadness at losing a baby, and the joy she and Jack feel when the little girl, who they call Faina, comes into their lives. There are also their neighbours, the warm and friendly, Esther and George, and their son, Garrett, who helps Mabel and Jack, and becomes like a son to them, but who has an impact on the way the story turns out.
It's quite funny that in the first drafts of Gipsy Moth, I also had a childless couple called Mabel and Jack, although I did write Jack out in the end. So in a way I felt quite familiar with them, even if they lived in Devon and not Alaska!
As I said it's a beautiful story, one that I could not put down. A beautiful read for the Christmas holidays, or indeed as a special present for a friend. I loved it!