This novel could have been a stunner. Unfortunately, its ending did it in, added to the unbelievability factor of its main character being able to survive that long on an island in Alaska in winter, without food, without decent shelter, without her gear except for a knife, and in wet clothes.

Yet, let me count the plusses. The writing is pretty good. Obviously, the author knows good English as he made me feel the environment and the main character’s dilemma as if I were there. The setting is harsh but exquisite, spectacular, and splendid. There is some gripping action, even if the overabundance of poetically beautiful descriptions drown it.

As to the story, Liana the main character is a French girl in her late teens. She has come to Klondike due to her father’s high hopes for finding gold. Her father trusts Henry, a native, to keep and take care of her. When her father is killed, Liana stays with Henry who teaches her the ways of the wilderness. While Liana is out hunting caribou, three men from town come to their cabin and kill Henry. Liana escapes, losing her gun and backpack, with men following her, but this is only the beginning.

The part that told the story of what happened to the two of the men was gripping but unconvincing. What happened to Liana during the course of a month when she stayed on a tiny island, however forced the believability factor even more for me.

The swift ending, if I understood it correctly, is realistic enough. And all that happened after Liana left the island was probably her mind’s losing its clarity.

Yet, at first reading, I thought the author gave us two different and possible endings. I had to go back and read again. It would have been a wiser choice had the author signaled his intention that what was happening was in Liana’s mind and not an actual story event or she was remembering earlier similar happenings. I am not the only one who was taken aback by this ending. Some of the people who have also read this book feel the same way.

Should a re-write take place, I am quite sure this story will be an award-winner because it is brilliant at its core.

the obscure ending and excessive descriptions of the place.

ask myself why I didn't stop earlier.

cheated.

is Graham Wilson.

Read at your own risk. From my point of view, the framework of the story is not strong, and a few other elements of the craft have been disregarded. Excellent setting, though, as to the place.

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Created Jul 18, 2020 at 5:19pm • Submit your own review...