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Wintering
By Peter Geye
Knopf Publishing Group, Hardcover, 9781101946466, June 7, 2016, 320pp.

The Short of It:

One man escaping his past, another man revisiting it to find closure.

The Rest of It:

In the dead of winter, Gunflint, Minnesota is a harsh, unforgiving landscape of ice floes, waterfalls and treacherous rivers. For Harry Eide, the landscape calls to him and reminds him of a trip he took years ago with his son Gus. Harry leaves his sickbed and vanishes into the surrounding wilderness, forcing his son Gus to remember the first time Harry ran off into the wilderness thirty years earlier. That time, to escape a bad marriage.

The story alternates between two timelines, the past and the present as Gus remembers that trip he and his father took over thirty years ago and the impact that Harry’s disappearance has on the present day.

What a book.

There’s heartache and longing, family secrets and feuds. There’s a lot of manly stuff going on in the way of survival (low rations, an encounter with a bear, finding shelter) but even if that’s not your thing, you’ll find yourself being pulled in by this story that spans 60 or so years.

Geye has a way with words and he’s a master at pulling the reader in. His novels tend to be on the quiet side but this one has a little bit of action and I found myself sitting on the edge of my seat for the last third of the book.

If Geye’s name sounds familiar, you may have read Safe from the Sea or The Lighthouse Road. Well, if you haven’t you must and if you have, then you need to pick up Wintering because it’s another solid read. I’m confident that Geye could write anything and I’d love it. I enjoy his writing that much.

Source: Review copy provided by the publisher via Edelweiss.
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

My Last Continent
By Midge Raymond
Scribner Book Company, Hardcover, 9781501124709, June 21, 2016, 320pp.

The Short of It:

A highly readable story touching on the environmental impact of tourism upon Antarctica and its native penguins.

The Rest of It:

If you’re not familiar with Midge Raymond, you ought to be. Years ago she asked me to review a collection of short stories titled (Forgetting English) and it was one of the first short story collections that I read and actually enjoyed. The stories were so well-developed, which is what I worry about when reading short stories. Will I feel satisfied after reading them? Yes. In this case, yes.

My Last Continent is her first novel and it’s actually an expansion of one of my favorite stories from Forgetting English, (The Ecstatic Cry). In this novel, we meet Deb Gardner who has been studying the habits of penguins in the frigid waters of Antarctica. Year after year she returns and takes great pleasure in the solitude that her research provides. But at times, it does get lonely so when she meets and falls in love with Keller Sullivan, she’s conflicted. Can you have a successful relationship with someone when your research takes you to one of the most remote areas of the world?

I read this book in a day. It’s smart, makes you think about the impact of tourism on wildlife and has a little bit of something for everyone. There’s a bit of romance, a little science and a terrific, harrowing account of a ship sinking (not a spoiler).

The most impressive thing about this book is the handling of the timeline. The story bounces back and forth in time, sometimes by hours and sometimes by decades, but it’s executed so well. I had no problem moving between chapters and I found myself fully immersed in the landscape Raymond depicts.

If the summer heat is already beating you down, pick this one up because as soon as you step into the world that Raymond creates, you’ll cool off pretty fast and learn something new in the process. Plus, hello! Penguins. How can you resist?

Source: Review copy provided by the author.
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

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