"..I think of Allen and know precisely what he would say---nothing is impossible. Take one step, and then another, and see where the path leads. Don't think of the obstacles, only the way around them."
-from Sophie's diary
I finished this book club selection late and did not have time to post prior to the meeting. So I will simply include notes from today's meeting at one sitting. I shared with the group that I had read the wrong book last week which did not give me as much time to read this one. Silly me! A few weeks ago I received an offer from Amazon for a free or very inexpensive copy of a book set in Alaska, Toward the Midnight Sun. Thinking it was our September selection, I was thrilled and downloaded it to my Kindle. It was not until I finished and looked for discussion questions and reviews of the correct book that I realized the author was female and Toward the Midnight Sun had a male author. Of course, I had to quickly pay for the right eBook and start reading pronto!
I enjoyed the story and rated the book a 4. I didn't really see it as a page-turner but I found some of it compelling and all of it very unique and creatively constructed. I learned (or relearned) the word epistolary, meaning written by means of mostly letters and journal entries. There are two correspondences telling the story, one between newlyweds---Lt. Colonel Allen Forrester and wife Sophie---separated by the his expedition into the Alaska territory in 1894. The other was between Walt Forrester, the great-nephew of the colonel, writing to Josh Sloan of the Alpine Historical Museum in Alpine, Alaska, to offer journals and artifacts inherited from his great-uncle. That second set of letters were from a current time.
One member of our group said he resisted reading To the Bright Edge... because he really doesn't like epistolary novels but he ended up reading it in 2 days and rated it a 5! With all ratings between 3 and 5, no one really disliked the novel; the average was 4.2. In the discussion questions offered by the publisher, we agreed the genre was hard to pin down. Call it a mixture of historical fiction, adventure and love story. In Acknowledgments, the author says the novel was inspired by the real-life journey into Alaska by Lt. Henry T. Allen. The author lives in Alaska which obviously gave her a bit of advantage in her descriptions and research.
The magical realism involved in the story was intriguing, if weird. There was the Old Man, aka The Man Who Flies, that seemed to appear out of nowhere and probably took the form of a raven at times. Samuelson, one of Forrester's crew, said he was "devil and angel in one." A baby born of a tree, women who took the form of geese and a lake monster added mystery and excitement to the adventure. The raven, known as a harbinger of death, made frequent appearances throughout.
Parts of the book brought back memories of my two trips to Alaska, though my husband and I traveled by cruise line. I am thankful not to have suffered the torturous journey of the Forrester expedition. The crew saw the Aurora Borealis which we were not fortunate to catch. I remembered standing on a glacier and thinking what a beautiful blue color we saw in the crevasses. In the novel another crew member, Pruitt, said he saw in it the "hues of cold itself." The crew had a problem with mosquitoes at one point; while we were there someone told us the mosquito is the national bird of Alaska! 😀
I enjoyed Sophie's writing most, I think. I enjoy watching birds and especially love hummingbirds, as did Sophie. Her passion for photography was interesting, too. I had much to learn.
This book's structure reminded me of a piece of juvenile fiction I read years ago when I was teaching: Regarding the Fountain, A Tale in Letters, of Liars and Leaks, by Kate Klise. It was also epistolary: the whole story told in letters, postcards, memos, advertisements, classroom chalkboard writing. I found it so creative and enjoyable.
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Photos show the two books---the right one and the wrong one. Check out the authors' names.
Also the Rufous hummingbird, a favorite of Sophie
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