We’ve just finished this book for our book group. Unusually, we all loved it. Just brilliant. I highly recommend it. All about Cree Indians, set in modern day, but the story flits between the past and the present. Beautifully written descriptions about the harsh landscape and life of the Cree Indians and their understanding of nature in their traditional wilderness life style. He interweaves a clever, suspense filled story amongst the two voices he uses – that of Will Bird a successful pilot with a tragic past and Annie, his niece who goes off to New York in search of her sister and encounters yet more difficulty and ugliness amongst the beautiful set.
It is simply beautifully written. Stylish, subtle, unusual and interesting. You will learn how to skin and cut up a moose. How to survive in the wild on your own. How families should come together in times of crisis. How friendships are formed. How strong love can be. How wonderful men can be. How brutal men can be. You will hopefully lose yourself in the richness of it’s prose.
It captures you right from the start – I love his use of short sentences. Lots of full stops. Just my style. I think men would enjoy this book as much as we all did:-
“You know I was a bush pilot. the best. But the best have to crash. And I’ve crashed a plane, me. Three times. I need to explain this all to you. I was a young man when I crashed the first time. the world was wide open. I was scared of nothing. Just before Helen and I had our oldest boy. the first time I crashed I was drunk, but that wasn’t the reason I crashed. I used to fly a bush plane better with a few drinks in me. I actually believe my eyesight improved with whisky goggles on. but sight had nothing to do with my first crash. Wait. It had everything to do with it. Snowstorm. Zero visibility”.
It will make a fantastic film.
