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The Mountain Can Wait
Tragedy erupts in an instant. Lives are shattered irrevocably. A young man drives off into the night, leaving a girl injured, perhaps fatally so. From that cliffhanger opening, Leipciger takes readers back and forward in time to tell the haunting story of one family's unraveling in rural logging country where the land is still the economic backbone. Like the novels of Annie Proulx, this debut is rooted in richly detailed nature writing and sharply focused on small town mores and regional culture. Marrying the propulsive story of a father and son who, in the wake of catastrophe, must confront their private demons to reach for redemption with an evocative meditation on our environmental legacy, The Mountain Can Wait introduces Leipciger as an exciting talent.
320 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 1, 2015
26 people are currently reading
1718 people want to read
About the author
Sarah Leipciger
7 books124 followersSarah Leipciger was born in Peterborough, Canada. She spent her teenage years in Toronto, later moving to Vancouver Island to study Creative Writing and English literature at the University of Victoria. Leipciger left Canada in 2001 for Korea and South East Asia, and currently lives in London with her three children, where she teaches creative writing to men in prison. She is also a Creative Writing tutor at CityLit, and a pursuing a PhD in Creative Writing at Goldsmiths University.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 123 reviews
August 14, 2019
j'accuse!
this book totally roofied me.
i don't know how else to account for the fact that every single time i had to put it down to do the other things that life requires of me, i would completely lose the thread of the story, and i would have to go back and reread a few pages just to remember even the very basics of the plot. which is unusual, for me. and my lukewarm response to the book overall was completely unexpected. on the surface, this is totally my kind of book: it's canada, it's woodsy, there's a crime, there's a stoic central character for whom communication is difficult - these are all my kinds of themes. but for some reason, this story just rolled off of me without leaving any impression. again - i suspect book-roofies. it is by no means poorly written - her descriptions of nature are phenomenal, but the woods end up feeling more alive and more memorable than any of the characters or the story itself.
this is a fractured family novel (another thing i usually dig): elka, (existing only in backstory and memory) a tragic-figure mother who abandoned her family and later died alone in a snowbank, tom - the frequently absent father of few words, erin; the (barely-featured) sweet but tough teenage daughter who has basically had to raise herself, and curtis - a young man who is drifting through life, rudderless. in the opening pages, curtis is involved in a drunk driving accident - where he hits a young girl with his car driving home from a party late at night. addled and terrified, he flees the scene without even checking to see if the girl is still alive. he retreats into a haze of guilt and marijuana and at one point he tries to tell tom what happened, but his vague evasive confession is misunderstood by tom. which pretty much sums up their relationship - bound by blood and unspoken love, but so awkward with each other. the lives of a father and son occasionally intersecting or overlapping, but there's little connection.
tom makes his living as a tree planter. he runs a company that seeds the forest all over western canada, and is looking forward to retiring so he can live in the woods full-time, living off the land. he spends much of the year away from home working, and has a closer relationship with his workers than with his own children. tom is a man of few words, but who harbors deep unexpressed feelings - he loves his children but is uncomfortable showing this love, and so he comes across as distant and unfeeling.
a perfect example of this is the way tom fields curtis' questions after he has had to end the suffering of rocky, his fourteen-year-old dog and companion.
"But how are you, Dad? That must have been pretty bad, doing it yourself."
One of the pieces of meat was stuck to the grill and Tom worked at it with a pair of tongs. He shrugged. The shot had been clean. "Had to be done."
"You could have taken him to the vet."
Tom pointed toward the Suburban with his tongs. "How long has the Suburban been making that noise?"
end scene.
tom is methodical, patient, uncomfortable in civilization but completely at ease in the woods. he is extremely skilled at fixing anything mechanical, or rescuing wounded animals, but cannot fix his broken family. which symbolism is a little too on the nose for me. having said that, one of the best scenes is the one where tom is repairing a pipe in the basement where curtis is living while curtis is trying to tell him about the hit and run, and tom's later musing, when he realizes what he missed that day:
Maybe he should have said more to the boy, opened him up like some piece of machinery and taken the wires out. Switched a cable from one power source to another, eliminated all the possibilities until he found the fault, and maybe then he would have figured him out. But he had done the thing that came most naturally to him - played down whatever it was Curtis was upset about because that's how he, Tom, would have wanted to be treated. Sometimes it was hard to remember that other people didn't go by the rules you set for yourself.
which is a beautiful moment, but then the same epiphany pops up again about fifty pages later, just in case you missed it the first time, which weakened it somewhat for me.
Tom went over that last conversation he'd had with Curtis. Curt had been trying to talk to him, and all he could remember now was how hard it had been to get at that valve, how easy it had been to avoid whatever it was Curt was upset about.
but tom is my kind of character; a practical, competent man who thrives in isolation. a man who does what needs to be done in an outwardly dispassionate way. but his interior life is rich, and during woodsy ruminations, we learn about his family's past and we get a better sense of who tom really is. elka ran out on the family when erin was only a few months old, and tom was forced to become the sole caregiver to their two children. he taught them how to shoot and other necessary tasks, but he was never able to make himself vulnerable enough to show his deep love for them. he kept them safe and he provided for them, but he was unable to navigate his own emotional landscape.
this is this is not a crime novel. a crime occurs, but the story is not shaped like crime fiction in any way. after the opening scene's hit-and-run, the story spends a great deal of time with tom in the wilderness, with his adopted family of workers and his business concerns and his lover and his memories. this is a quiet family story that is also a quiet nature story. the beauty of the forests and the lakes, the peace of the land inhabited only by moose and bears, the contemplative camping scenes - leipciger is excellent at these details. the nature writing is as lush as her characters are distant and clinical.
i loved the nature writing, i loved tom's character, and i loved all the scenes he shares with elka's mother bobbie - a firecracker of a character who lives even further off the grid than tom. there's a lot of good writing in this book, but the story never grabbed me by the throat. which, in a reading experience is a good thing, as opposed to that happening on the street.
i am putting this author's name in my mental "authors to watch" list, because i think she is definitely a skilled writer, even though this book wasn't "my" book.
come to my blog!
this book totally roofied me.
i don't know how else to account for the fact that every single time i had to put it down to do the other things that life requires of me, i would completely lose the thread of the story, and i would have to go back and reread a few pages just to remember even the very basics of the plot. which is unusual, for me. and my lukewarm response to the book overall was completely unexpected. on the surface, this is totally my kind of book: it's canada, it's woodsy, there's a crime, there's a stoic central character for whom communication is difficult - these are all my kinds of themes. but for some reason, this story just rolled off of me without leaving any impression. again - i suspect book-roofies. it is by no means poorly written - her descriptions of nature are phenomenal, but the woods end up feeling more alive and more memorable than any of the characters or the story itself.
this is a fractured family novel (another thing i usually dig): elka, (existing only in backstory and memory) a tragic-figure mother who abandoned her family and later died alone in a snowbank, tom - the frequently absent father of few words, erin; the (barely-featured) sweet but tough teenage daughter who has basically had to raise herself, and curtis - a young man who is drifting through life, rudderless. in the opening pages, curtis is involved in a drunk driving accident - where he hits a young girl with his car driving home from a party late at night. addled and terrified, he flees the scene without even checking to see if the girl is still alive. he retreats into a haze of guilt and marijuana and at one point he tries to tell tom what happened, but his vague evasive confession is misunderstood by tom. which pretty much sums up their relationship - bound by blood and unspoken love, but so awkward with each other. the lives of a father and son occasionally intersecting or overlapping, but there's little connection.
tom makes his living as a tree planter. he runs a company that seeds the forest all over western canada, and is looking forward to retiring so he can live in the woods full-time, living off the land. he spends much of the year away from home working, and has a closer relationship with his workers than with his own children. tom is a man of few words, but who harbors deep unexpressed feelings - he loves his children but is uncomfortable showing this love, and so he comes across as distant and unfeeling.
a perfect example of this is the way tom fields curtis' questions after he has had to end the suffering of rocky, his fourteen-year-old dog and companion.
"But how are you, Dad? That must have been pretty bad, doing it yourself."
One of the pieces of meat was stuck to the grill and Tom worked at it with a pair of tongs. He shrugged. The shot had been clean. "Had to be done."
"You could have taken him to the vet."
Tom pointed toward the Suburban with his tongs. "How long has the Suburban been making that noise?"
end scene.
tom is methodical, patient, uncomfortable in civilization but completely at ease in the woods. he is extremely skilled at fixing anything mechanical, or rescuing wounded animals, but cannot fix his broken family. which symbolism is a little too on the nose for me. having said that, one of the best scenes is the one where tom is repairing a pipe in the basement where curtis is living while curtis is trying to tell him about the hit and run, and tom's later musing, when he realizes what he missed that day:
Maybe he should have said more to the boy, opened him up like some piece of machinery and taken the wires out. Switched a cable from one power source to another, eliminated all the possibilities until he found the fault, and maybe then he would have figured him out. But he had done the thing that came most naturally to him - played down whatever it was Curtis was upset about because that's how he, Tom, would have wanted to be treated. Sometimes it was hard to remember that other people didn't go by the rules you set for yourself.
which is a beautiful moment, but then the same epiphany pops up again about fifty pages later, just in case you missed it the first time, which weakened it somewhat for me.
Tom went over that last conversation he'd had with Curtis. Curt had been trying to talk to him, and all he could remember now was how hard it had been to get at that valve, how easy it had been to avoid whatever it was Curt was upset about.
but tom is my kind of character; a practical, competent man who thrives in isolation. a man who does what needs to be done in an outwardly dispassionate way. but his interior life is rich, and during woodsy ruminations, we learn about his family's past and we get a better sense of who tom really is. elka ran out on the family when erin was only a few months old, and tom was forced to become the sole caregiver to their two children. he taught them how to shoot and other necessary tasks, but he was never able to make himself vulnerable enough to show his deep love for them. he kept them safe and he provided for them, but he was unable to navigate his own emotional landscape.
this is this is not a crime novel. a crime occurs, but the story is not shaped like crime fiction in any way. after the opening scene's hit-and-run, the story spends a great deal of time with tom in the wilderness, with his adopted family of workers and his business concerns and his lover and his memories. this is a quiet family story that is also a quiet nature story. the beauty of the forests and the lakes, the peace of the land inhabited only by moose and bears, the contemplative camping scenes - leipciger is excellent at these details. the nature writing is as lush as her characters are distant and clinical.
i loved the nature writing, i loved tom's character, and i loved all the scenes he shares with elka's mother bobbie - a firecracker of a character who lives even further off the grid than tom. there's a lot of good writing in this book, but the story never grabbed me by the throat. which, in a reading experience is a good thing, as opposed to that happening on the street.
i am putting this author's name in my mental "authors to watch" list, because i think she is definitely a skilled writer, even though this book wasn't "my" book.
come to my blog!
February 8, 2017
Clear and beautiful, like swimming in a mountain lake - Mark Haddon
This is a very good read, cleanly written though touching at the same time. Beautiful in its simplicity.
'Leipciger beautifully captures the tender and mercurial relationship between father and son. These are the characters you care about, flawed and haunted, existing in the harsh yet undeniably radiant world of the Canadian mountains'.
The son, Curtis, is driving home from a party, high, through the Canadian woods when suddenly a girl appears in his headlights. Before he can react he hits her, and in an instant decided to keep driving.
Tom Berry, foreman of a planting operation in the wilderness, is a single father who has raised his son and daughter alone, his wife mentally ill and having died early age, with the same quiet and absolute dedication he brings to his forestry business. When the police contact Tom to tell him that Curtis has gone missing, Tom sets out to track his son. A haunting story of a family in crisis.
I loved the setting, having been there several times, Western Canada, camped and hiked there. Apart from the intriguing story about father and son, and the eccentric grandmother, also liked the scenes of the planters in the wilderness, an operation that Tom heads, the rough life they lead there and the turbulence among them.
Beautifully set in Western Canadian wilderness, the story is written very much to the point, without much poetry, and the result is a very simple and beautiful story. I liked this, no frills, just a great story. Debut of a great writer. Recommended.
This is a very good read, cleanly written though touching at the same time. Beautiful in its simplicity.
'Leipciger beautifully captures the tender and mercurial relationship between father and son. These are the characters you care about, flawed and haunted, existing in the harsh yet undeniably radiant world of the Canadian mountains'.
The son, Curtis, is driving home from a party, high, through the Canadian woods when suddenly a girl appears in his headlights. Before he can react he hits her, and in an instant decided to keep driving.
Tom Berry, foreman of a planting operation in the wilderness, is a single father who has raised his son and daughter alone, his wife mentally ill and having died early age, with the same quiet and absolute dedication he brings to his forestry business. When the police contact Tom to tell him that Curtis has gone missing, Tom sets out to track his son. A haunting story of a family in crisis.
I loved the setting, having been there several times, Western Canada, camped and hiked there. Apart from the intriguing story about father and son, and the eccentric grandmother, also liked the scenes of the planters in the wilderness, an operation that Tom heads, the rough life they lead there and the turbulence among them.
Beautifully set in Western Canadian wilderness, the story is written very much to the point, without much poetry, and the result is a very simple and beautiful story. I liked this, no frills, just a great story. Debut of a great writer. Recommended.
September 22, 2015
(3.5) The novel opens and closes with a hit-and-run, but in between those momentous peaks it’s a quieter tale of a single father trying to guide his son and daughter into young adulthood in the wilds of Canada’s west and islands. Tom Berry’s work is not cutting trees down but planting them – an interesting adaptation of a traditional woodsman’s activity to a new eco age. Although he still has the old hunting skills, he’s more often involved in diplomatic negotiations with his son and his crew of planters than he is with wild animals.
I found the story a little sleepy but loved Leipciger’s writing, especially her account of the daily drudgery of manual labor and her descriptions of wilderness scenery:
Leipciger is a Canadian settled in the UK; her debut novel is obviously born out of nostalgia for the possibilities of a wide open country. I’ll look out for her next book.
Related reading: Something about the emotional tenor reminded me of Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng, while Road Ends by Mary Lawson shares the rural Canada setting.
I found the story a little sleepy but loved Leipciger’s writing, especially her account of the daily drudgery of manual labor and her descriptions of wilderness scenery:
“These were long, arduous days, one rolling into the next, broken only by the lacing and unlacing of boots, the taping of fingers, the washing of tin plates. Every day, slotting one or two thousand trees into the hard ground, trudging through unsympathetic terrain”
“Tom and Bobbie walked through the trees, long bars of shadow and silver-blue bark, stepping in the dead, slippery mulch of dropped cherries and peaches, to find a dark cabin with the door unlocked and no one inside.”
Leipciger is a Canadian settled in the UK; her debut novel is obviously born out of nostalgia for the possibilities of a wide open country. I’ll look out for her next book.
Related reading: Something about the emotional tenor reminded me of Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng, while Road Ends by Mary Lawson shares the rural Canada setting.
December 19, 2018
3.5 stars
This little book really surprised me by how moved I was by the ending! It was slow to get going though, the first 100 pages don’t really do justice to the character exploration and development that comes later, although there is truly stunning descriptions of Canadian wilderness (I got Revenant & Surfacing vibes). I loved the slow progress Tom makes to becoming a good father, when his son does something terrible and must face the consequences. Quietly profound.
This little book really surprised me by how moved I was by the ending! It was slow to get going though, the first 100 pages don’t really do justice to the character exploration and development that comes later, although there is truly stunning descriptions of Canadian wilderness (I got Revenant & Surfacing vibes). I loved the slow progress Tom makes to becoming a good father, when his son does something terrible and must face the consequences. Quietly profound.
August 21, 2015
Review: The Mountain Can Wait by Sarah Leipciger Published by: Tinder Press (7th may 2015)
ISBN: 978-1472223890
Source: Netgalley
Rating: 3*
Synopsis:
Set in a stunning but scarred Canadian landscape, THE MOUNTAIN CAN WAIT is a story of fathers and sons and the heartache they cause each other, in the tradition of Annie Proulx.
Tom Berry has always been a loner, a man content to live out his days in the wilderness with just enough ammunition and kerosene to last out the winter. A single father, he has raised his children with the same quiet and absolute dedication he brings to his forestry business, but now he's discovering that might not have been enough.
When his son, Curtis, on the brink of adulthood, disappears after a tragic accident, it falls to Tom, the hunter, to track him down. Whether he can truly reach Curtis is another matter.
Review:
I have very mixed feelings about Sarah Leipciger's debut; some parts I really enjoyed but others didn't engage me fully. Tom's character is quite well developed but I found other characters less so.
The setting, rugged Canada, is so beautifully described, I could almost smell the air, but parts of the book featuring Tom and son Curtis are my least favourite. It seemed like a lot of time was devoted to this but, for me, the conclusion was a huge anticlimax.
I received an Advance Readers Copy of this book via Netgalley.
ISBN: 978-1472223890
Source: Netgalley
Rating: 3*
Synopsis:
Set in a stunning but scarred Canadian landscape, THE MOUNTAIN CAN WAIT is a story of fathers and sons and the heartache they cause each other, in the tradition of Annie Proulx.
Tom Berry has always been a loner, a man content to live out his days in the wilderness with just enough ammunition and kerosene to last out the winter. A single father, he has raised his children with the same quiet and absolute dedication he brings to his forestry business, but now he's discovering that might not have been enough.
When his son, Curtis, on the brink of adulthood, disappears after a tragic accident, it falls to Tom, the hunter, to track him down. Whether he can truly reach Curtis is another matter.
Review:
I have very mixed feelings about Sarah Leipciger's debut; some parts I really enjoyed but others didn't engage me fully. Tom's character is quite well developed but I found other characters less so.
The setting, rugged Canada, is so beautifully described, I could almost smell the air, but parts of the book featuring Tom and son Curtis are my least favourite. It seemed like a lot of time was devoted to this but, for me, the conclusion was a huge anticlimax.
I received an Advance Readers Copy of this book via Netgalley.
December 30, 2015
Review Copy Provided by Hachette Audio
As I started listening to The Mountain Can Wait, I realized early on that a key theme/echo through-out would be, ‘the mountain can give and the mountain can take’ and that is how I would describe this book by Leipciger in 10 words or less. From the description of the book, the reader (or in this case, listener) goes into it knowing that there is going to be an element of mystery (although not really suspense), but that there would be more of a focus on family ties and character interaction. Its actually kind of hard to describe without giving huge spoilers.
For me the most enjoyable part of the story (aside from the narration which is a whole separate beast) was seeing the representation of different cultures that the author managed to weave into the story. Having never been to Canada, and not growing up in the US, my knowledge of geography in the British Columbia/Saskatchewan area is basically nonexistent, as well as my knowledge of the indigenous people that live in the area. The relationship between the main character, Tom and his children (Curtis and Erin) seemed very distant and potentially almost neglectful at times – although it was written in a way to make the reader try to understand the hard life that loggers have – when they have to leave their families/homes for potentially weeks/months on end in order to earn money to survive and especially in the sense that they might not have support systems; or their lack of presence may cause issues with their support system (in this instance, Tom’s wife who disappeared prior to the book starting).
I really liked/appreciated how the author approached the writing – taking a certain event that occurred and then going back in time and working forward to the event; and even then continuing on until the story completion in the epilogue. While its a harder style to write than a true linear one and it needs the right kind of story to use the style, it was definitely suited for this book.
I will admit that if Robert Petkoff hadn’t been the narrator that I probably wouldn’t have picked it to read/review. There are some narrators that I will automatically gravitate to, no matter the style of book, or if its a genre of book I normally read or don’t read – and Robert Petkoff is one of those narrators. For me, the strength in this audiobook was that it was told predominantly from a male POV. At the same time, the cast of characters wasn’t necessarily as diverse as other books I have listened to and since the two main characters (Tom and Curtis) were family, it made for some similar voice intonations during the narration (although I would expect that if the book revolved around family, since it is often the case). While The Mountain Can Wait was 8hrs long, it flowed it a way that made it feel substantially shorter – which is always good for me when it comes to listening.
Overall, I was intrigued by Sarah Leipciger debut novel and I’m intrigued to see what she writes about in the future. I gave The Mountain Can Wait 3.5 stars for writing and the narration 4 stars with a solid performance by Robert Petkoff like always.
As I started listening to The Mountain Can Wait, I realized early on that a key theme/echo through-out would be, ‘the mountain can give and the mountain can take’ and that is how I would describe this book by Leipciger in 10 words or less. From the description of the book, the reader (or in this case, listener) goes into it knowing that there is going to be an element of mystery (although not really suspense), but that there would be more of a focus on family ties and character interaction. Its actually kind of hard to describe without giving huge spoilers.
For me the most enjoyable part of the story (aside from the narration which is a whole separate beast) was seeing the representation of different cultures that the author managed to weave into the story. Having never been to Canada, and not growing up in the US, my knowledge of geography in the British Columbia/Saskatchewan area is basically nonexistent, as well as my knowledge of the indigenous people that live in the area. The relationship between the main character, Tom and his children (Curtis and Erin) seemed very distant and potentially almost neglectful at times – although it was written in a way to make the reader try to understand the hard life that loggers have – when they have to leave their families/homes for potentially weeks/months on end in order to earn money to survive and especially in the sense that they might not have support systems; or their lack of presence may cause issues with their support system (in this instance, Tom’s wife who disappeared prior to the book starting).
I really liked/appreciated how the author approached the writing – taking a certain event that occurred and then going back in time and working forward to the event; and even then continuing on until the story completion in the epilogue. While its a harder style to write than a true linear one and it needs the right kind of story to use the style, it was definitely suited for this book.
I will admit that if Robert Petkoff hadn’t been the narrator that I probably wouldn’t have picked it to read/review. There are some narrators that I will automatically gravitate to, no matter the style of book, or if its a genre of book I normally read or don’t read – and Robert Petkoff is one of those narrators. For me, the strength in this audiobook was that it was told predominantly from a male POV. At the same time, the cast of characters wasn’t necessarily as diverse as other books I have listened to and since the two main characters (Tom and Curtis) were family, it made for some similar voice intonations during the narration (although I would expect that if the book revolved around family, since it is often the case). While The Mountain Can Wait was 8hrs long, it flowed it a way that made it feel substantially shorter – which is always good for me when it comes to listening.
Overall, I was intrigued by Sarah Leipciger debut novel and I’m intrigued to see what she writes about in the future. I gave The Mountain Can Wait 3.5 stars for writing and the narration 4 stars with a solid performance by Robert Petkoff like always.
June 30, 2016
The wonderful thing about reading challenges and book clubs is that they can get you reading some great books you otherwise would never have looked at twice. I didn't think I would like this one, and I kept postponing the reading of it. I figured it would be a lot like a Scandinavian movie, you know the ones with lingering panoramic shots of gloomy nature lit by a weak bluish grey light. With characters who fail at communicating with each other because they are just as rugged and bleak as their surroundings. Well, I was wrong, and I happily admit it.
Or rather, there is plenty of communication failure but the characters and their surroundings are anything but colourless. They make mistakes, but I was never once annoyed with the characters, never lost sympathy even when I saw that they made the wrong choice, said the wrong thing. I found very few, if any, traits that I have in common with the characters but there are some things that are universal. The misunderstandings and differences in expectations between generations. The insights about parenthood made by the father in the story. They gave me the chills. I was wondering what the title meant, and thought maybe it was something that would be revealed at the end. But it was revealed in the middle, and it was so simple and so profound that I had to stop reading for a while.
The mountain view is spectacular. There are flowers and berries, wild goats, skinny dipping in cold ponds, hunting, and tree planting. Yes, there are several chapters dedicated to tree planting and I wasn't bored once. I was submerged into the story to the extent where I was barely aware that I was reading. Every now and then some plot element would be advanced, some repeated phrase made clear, and I would nod in admiration and think "I see what you did there". But for the rest of it I was riding along in the mountains. Considering the sheer amount of mosquitoes, blackflies, and bears I am happy to experience British Colombia vicariously through this book.
But what is it about, you might ask. Surely it is not about romping around in the mountains hunting and planting trees? Well, yes and no. Mostly no. It's about life. And death. And life choices. That's all I'm going to say. In fact, don't even read the blurb. Just read the book and let the story unfold at its own pace.
Or rather, there is plenty of communication failure but the characters and their surroundings are anything but colourless. They make mistakes, but I was never once annoyed with the characters, never lost sympathy even when I saw that they made the wrong choice, said the wrong thing. I found very few, if any, traits that I have in common with the characters but there are some things that are universal. The misunderstandings and differences in expectations between generations. The insights about parenthood made by the father in the story. They gave me the chills. I was wondering what the title meant, and thought maybe it was something that would be revealed at the end. But it was revealed in the middle, and it was so simple and so profound that I had to stop reading for a while.
The mountain view is spectacular. There are flowers and berries, wild goats, skinny dipping in cold ponds, hunting, and tree planting. Yes, there are several chapters dedicated to tree planting and I wasn't bored once. I was submerged into the story to the extent where I was barely aware that I was reading. Every now and then some plot element would be advanced, some repeated phrase made clear, and I would nod in admiration and think "I see what you did there". But for the rest of it I was riding along in the mountains. Considering the sheer amount of mosquitoes, blackflies, and bears I am happy to experience British Colombia vicariously through this book.
But what is it about, you might ask. Surely it is not about romping around in the mountains hunting and planting trees? Well, yes and no. Mostly no. It's about life. And death. And life choices. That's all I'm going to say. In fact, don't even read the blurb. Just read the book and let the story unfold at its own pace.
July 24, 2015
Very immersive; beautiful nature writing in fiction which really took me to the locations, especially the Canadian forest and the island where the grandmother lives, and a great story.
January 19, 2025
4.5 stars ✨
February 4, 2017
Emotional and poignant. Beautiful writing.
July 5, 2017
I loved this. It's sparse in plot from the outside - the quiet aftermath of a hit and run - but it's deceptively rich.
The characters were all flawed, often making them hard to like, but I still rooted for them. For each you could see something in their past that had made them the way they were. I don't want to go into too much detail as that would be spoileriffic, but it worked, and the exploration of 'family' was great.
The writing is deft, simple, effective and lovely to read. I went through the whole book quickly, and thought the length was pretty perfect for the story. Highly recommend this.
The characters were all flawed, often making them hard to like, but I still rooted for them. For each you could see something in their past that had made them the way they were. I don't want to go into too much detail as that would be spoileriffic, but it worked, and the exploration of 'family' was great.
The writing is deft, simple, effective and lovely to read. I went through the whole book quickly, and thought the length was pretty perfect for the story. Highly recommend this.
Read
November 16, 2018I really liked that book. I picked it randomly and was surprised about how much I enjoyed reading it. To me the story with the hit-and-run was backstory to the real story of living in British Columbia. It wasn't so much about the plot but the wonderful way and love the author uses to describe this beautiful place to live. I enjoyed the slow pace, which is rare for me.
November 5, 2017
Flawless. Beautifully raw and real characters
May 31, 2015
For a map and pictures of the literary locations Booktrail of The Mountain Can Wait
The haunting relationship between father and son against the raw rugged mountains of British Columbia and Saskatchewan.
Story
Tom Berry is a single father and a loner – quite at home and at peace with his wilderness home. He’s struggled since the death of his wife to raise his sons with the tough love and respect he shows the mountains. His forestry business has taught him all about strength and perseverance and the need for man to respect his surroundings. His relationship with his sons may not be as easy however.
When Curtis is involved in a tragic accident and then flees the scene, Tom goes off hunting once again but this time for his son, Whether he can really track him down and reach him this time however is another question.
Set in a stunning but scarred Canadian landscape, the landscape is at one with the story unfolding and the characters involved in it.
The story takes us from Whistler to Quesnel, Vanderhof, Fort St James and Takla Lake. A significant place is Aguarish Island near Vancouver island and the ferry ride to that place. The place names – Crossbow Creek, McCleod River and Black Pond reveal the close relationship of man and earth.
But the landscape here is something more of a persona experience too for the author not only evokes but recreates the raw and rugged life as a worker on the lumber plantations of the Canadian Pacific Ranges. This is a lifestyle and setting unfamiliar to many but the details from the author bring this to life –
The logging camp in a dusty, rocky clearing, was small and functional; five long boxcars couple together in a row, elevated on concrete blocks
Accustomed to waiting the planters dropped their bags to the ground, sat against them, and smoked.
As well as the lumber workers however this is the story of the lesser known planters and the competition they face working on the mountains. The main threat however is the climate and the weather where a life in the mountains shapes everything in daily life –
“Weatherman says it only going to keep getting hotter and drier, we’d like you to move to fire hours”
The planters are known to smoke which is a fire hazard and so ‘if seedlings were handled in the middle of the day when it’s baking” they will dry out. Weather here more than anywhere dictates the rhythm of life and work.
The landscape which dictates and shapes everything in this place –
The uniformity of this place had a way of lulling a person into something like a dream
Land and people as one.
Bookish musings
Stark raw prose blends landscape and story well together. Tom searches for his son in a physical and emotional sense and the pain and scars are hard to face. Having had no knowledge of this part of the world and the world of the loggers and planters, it was a fascinating read of the mountains and the superiority of the landscape versus men. In fact the landscape was the central character for it shaped characters and story and I felt drawn into the land and its weather beaten ways.
A slow story for characters and plot but one which lingers with you and builds up a picture of a different life, a different way of thinking, and a father searching for his son in every sense of the word.
The relationships between a single father and his son is not one I’ve read much about and so this was both unique and interesting in equal measure.But it’s the setting which really shines.
The haunting relationship between father and son against the raw rugged mountains of British Columbia and Saskatchewan.
Story
Tom Berry is a single father and a loner – quite at home and at peace with his wilderness home. He’s struggled since the death of his wife to raise his sons with the tough love and respect he shows the mountains. His forestry business has taught him all about strength and perseverance and the need for man to respect his surroundings. His relationship with his sons may not be as easy however.
When Curtis is involved in a tragic accident and then flees the scene, Tom goes off hunting once again but this time for his son, Whether he can really track him down and reach him this time however is another question.
Set in a stunning but scarred Canadian landscape, the landscape is at one with the story unfolding and the characters involved in it.
The story takes us from Whistler to Quesnel, Vanderhof, Fort St James and Takla Lake. A significant place is Aguarish Island near Vancouver island and the ferry ride to that place. The place names – Crossbow Creek, McCleod River and Black Pond reveal the close relationship of man and earth.
But the landscape here is something more of a persona experience too for the author not only evokes but recreates the raw and rugged life as a worker on the lumber plantations of the Canadian Pacific Ranges. This is a lifestyle and setting unfamiliar to many but the details from the author bring this to life –
The logging camp in a dusty, rocky clearing, was small and functional; five long boxcars couple together in a row, elevated on concrete blocks
Accustomed to waiting the planters dropped their bags to the ground, sat against them, and smoked.
As well as the lumber workers however this is the story of the lesser known planters and the competition they face working on the mountains. The main threat however is the climate and the weather where a life in the mountains shapes everything in daily life –
“Weatherman says it only going to keep getting hotter and drier, we’d like you to move to fire hours”
The planters are known to smoke which is a fire hazard and so ‘if seedlings were handled in the middle of the day when it’s baking” they will dry out. Weather here more than anywhere dictates the rhythm of life and work.
The landscape which dictates and shapes everything in this place –
The uniformity of this place had a way of lulling a person into something like a dream
Land and people as one.
Bookish musings
Stark raw prose blends landscape and story well together. Tom searches for his son in a physical and emotional sense and the pain and scars are hard to face. Having had no knowledge of this part of the world and the world of the loggers and planters, it was a fascinating read of the mountains and the superiority of the landscape versus men. In fact the landscape was the central character for it shaped characters and story and I felt drawn into the land and its weather beaten ways.
A slow story for characters and plot but one which lingers with you and builds up a picture of a different life, a different way of thinking, and a father searching for his son in every sense of the word.
The relationships between a single father and his son is not one I’ve read much about and so this was both unique and interesting in equal measure.But it’s the setting which really shines.
February 14, 2015
(Originally posted on Amazon Vine)
This is a story that quietly takes hold of you and still doesn't let go once you've reached the end. It's a testament to the book that when I was two-thirds through, for a day I thought I'd left it on the tube and I was so annoyed with myself because I wanted so much to find out what happened.
Interestingly, I recently read another book courtesy of Amazon Vine that started with a boy hitting a girl with his car and leaving the scene, but "The Mountain Can Wait" is miles better - where the other book wasted the potential of the premise and rendered itself irredeemable through a conclusion that wiped away all the emotional turmoil of the characters in true Hallmark Channel fashion, Leipciger's book plainly stares the consequences of the hit-and-run in the face, and the only closure to be had is acceptance.
The book is for the most part beautifully written (apart from a few attempts at description that were so pretentious they didn't make sense) with apt, incisive imagery, such as Curtis as a just-born baby with white paste in the creases of his hands and his little fists rising up past the sides of his head. The atmosphere is incredible, in particular on the island of Aguanish, a perpetually weather-beaten, misty place, and when I followed Tom as he climbed the mountain I felt a keen need to join him.
From the blurb on the book (or in the case of this ARC, inside), I had expected a more overt environmentalism than I found, which was slightly disappointing, but invigorating in a different way - there are characters connected to their land in different ways, whether they live by trading and collecting shrimp and kelp, or by planting pines for felling and shooting wildlife cleanly (how I wish every hunter was like Tom!). As well as the book telling a compelling story, it offers a fascinating glimpse into the ways some might live their lives in the wilder parts of Canada.
This is a story that quietly takes hold of you and still doesn't let go once you've reached the end. It's a testament to the book that when I was two-thirds through, for a day I thought I'd left it on the tube and I was so annoyed with myself because I wanted so much to find out what happened.
Interestingly, I recently read another book courtesy of Amazon Vine that started with a boy hitting a girl with his car and leaving the scene, but "The Mountain Can Wait" is miles better - where the other book wasted the potential of the premise and rendered itself irredeemable through a conclusion that wiped away all the emotional turmoil of the characters in true Hallmark Channel fashion, Leipciger's book plainly stares the consequences of the hit-and-run in the face, and the only closure to be had is acceptance.
The book is for the most part beautifully written (apart from a few attempts at description that were so pretentious they didn't make sense) with apt, incisive imagery, such as Curtis as a just-born baby with white paste in the creases of his hands and his little fists rising up past the sides of his head. The atmosphere is incredible, in particular on the island of Aguanish, a perpetually weather-beaten, misty place, and when I followed Tom as he climbed the mountain I felt a keen need to join him.
From the blurb on the book (or in the case of this ARC, inside), I had expected a more overt environmentalism than I found, which was slightly disappointing, but invigorating in a different way - there are characters connected to their land in different ways, whether they live by trading and collecting shrimp and kelp, or by planting pines for felling and shooting wildlife cleanly (how I wish every hunter was like Tom!). As well as the book telling a compelling story, it offers a fascinating glimpse into the ways some might live their lives in the wilder parts of Canada.
May 14, 2015
Tom Berry runs a team of planters working the Canadian forests. After his errant wife ran off, Tom has raised his children as a single parent. But one night his son is involved in a hit and run accident on a deserted mountain road and the rhythm of the lives of father and son begin to change.
The book beautifully evokes the wilderness of the Canadian landscape and the gangs of people who work alongside the loggers to ensure there is a constant regrowth taking place for more logging (a refreshing take on a story set in the Canadian wilderness). Tom Berry and all the characters we see in close proximity are extremely well written and believable. But there is a sense that there are really two separate books within the narrative, one to do with Tom and his planters and the other with the accident. Tom’s current life is handled well, but the erratic flips to the backstory and the shift over to the son’s narrative do not track so well. The book is clearly a literary narrative, but the accident that occurs should have created some sense of immediacy or a building tension. The build-up really only became palpable to a reader a considerable way through the book, and even when the crisis point was reach the rhythm of the story did not seem to change. However it is clear this writer can write extremely lyrical and competent prose, so I will be interested in seeing how she approaches her next book.
The book beautifully evokes the wilderness of the Canadian landscape and the gangs of people who work alongside the loggers to ensure there is a constant regrowth taking place for more logging (a refreshing take on a story set in the Canadian wilderness). Tom Berry and all the characters we see in close proximity are extremely well written and believable. But there is a sense that there are really two separate books within the narrative, one to do with Tom and his planters and the other with the accident. Tom’s current life is handled well, but the erratic flips to the backstory and the shift over to the son’s narrative do not track so well. The book is clearly a literary narrative, but the accident that occurs should have created some sense of immediacy or a building tension. The build-up really only became palpable to a reader a considerable way through the book, and even when the crisis point was reach the rhythm of the story did not seem to change. However it is clear this writer can write extremely lyrical and competent prose, so I will be interested in seeing how she approaches her next book.
July 3, 2015
The story starts with an event which shapes the narrative so subtly, that at times, you almost forget just what tragedy started the story off. Such is the mesmeric quality of the novel that the pages pass silently, and almost without realising, you are drawn into a story about tangled relationships; namely, that of a father with his children, sons with their fathers, and lovers with lovers. It’s also the story of a Canadian mountain and its mercurial and beautiful landscape and the force that the environment plays in nurturing those souls who live within its harsh confines. The story is slow, almost meandering in style but this adds depth and even as an air of suspense pervades the narrative, its underlying message is one of lives being played out in the shadow of deep wrongdoing.
Beautifully written, the slow and measured writing style draws you in from the beginning, and rather than being a page turner with lots of action, the story is more of a slow burner, with subtle nuances and understated light and shade. To say more would be to spoil the effect of the story and do a complete disservice to the author, but what I will say is that days after finishing the novel, my thoughts return to this remote and beautiful place, and such is the emotional pull of the story, that I still stop and wonder just how everyone is doing and hope that they will be ok.
The Mountain Can Wait is a commendable debut novel by a talented new author. I can’t wait to see what she does next.
Beautifully written, the slow and measured writing style draws you in from the beginning, and rather than being a page turner with lots of action, the story is more of a slow burner, with subtle nuances and understated light and shade. To say more would be to spoil the effect of the story and do a complete disservice to the author, but what I will say is that days after finishing the novel, my thoughts return to this remote and beautiful place, and such is the emotional pull of the story, that I still stop and wonder just how everyone is doing and hope that they will be ok.
The Mountain Can Wait is a commendable debut novel by a talented new author. I can’t wait to see what she does next.
March 9, 2018
The introduction to this novel catches the reader's interest immediately. Curtis is driving home when he accidentally hits a young girl and then the unthinkable, he decides to drive on. From there, Sarah Leipciger weaves a story of one family's unravelling (that really started long before the hit and run), moving backward and forward in time, from person to person, mainly father and son.
I always enjoy novels with a Canadian setting. However, Leipciger spent far too much time describing the wilderness of the Canadian mountains and the Pacific Rim. The story simply bogged down in descriptions of nature -- that said, I did learn a lot about tree planting!
There really was little plot development and a significant amount of families simply not understanding one another and blaming one another for events that happened in the past. After reading the book jacket, I was hoping for a more compelling story!
I always enjoy novels with a Canadian setting. However, Leipciger spent far too much time describing the wilderness of the Canadian mountains and the Pacific Rim. The story simply bogged down in descriptions of nature -- that said, I did learn a lot about tree planting!
There really was little plot development and a significant amount of families simply not understanding one another and blaming one another for events that happened in the past. After reading the book jacket, I was hoping for a more compelling story!
September 16, 2015
Beautiful prose. Dynamic characters with realistic motivations. You'll be able to feel the morning mist on your face and smell the soil after the rain, that's how beautifully written it was. What I liked the most was how the father, Tom, was gradually and artfully revealed to the reader. He seems as straight laced and straightforward as they come, a young father left alone with two young children he didn't want or know how to care for, but something changes. A critical moment, "that time in the bath tub," was all it took to give him new perspective on the life that he now saw as belonging to his children. Good story, great themes, beautiful imagery and sensory appeal. Solid choice for your next read.
February 11, 2016
This was a beautiful book. Sparsely written but with beautiful prose. It is the story of Tom, a single father who finds he is connected to his children by guilt. The book opens with a hit and run and when Tom finds he is connected to it, he tries to mend his dysfunctional family and finds he is not the father he thought he was. The atmosphere and settings of the book are helped by the author's prose. The connection with nature and the disconnection with each other is beautifully woven together by the skill of author. I recommend all to read it. Thanks to Lovereading for the ARC.
April 19, 2015
Really enjoyed this one, great story telling that grabbed me from the start.
Only reason I've not given 5 stars is I felt it tailed off a little towards the end. Already looking forward to the authors 2nd novel.
Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for my copy.
Only reason I've not given 5 stars is I felt it tailed off a little towards the end. Already looking forward to the authors 2nd novel.
Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for my copy.
May 24, 2015
Received a copy of this from first reads. I read it in a few days. Not my usual type of book at all. It was well written. Just not enough excitement for me but like I say that's because this genre is not what I usually read. Definitely worth a read.
Read
January 5, 2015read for review for Quill and Quire
October 18, 2022
Leipciger is skillful and articulate without pulling tricks, and that was the exact thing I wanted. Contemplative and lovely. A January book.
March 24, 2018
The story opens with a shocking scene: a young man, driving late at night on a deserted road, has a moment’s lack of concentration; a girl suddenly appears and, before he can brake, he knocks her down. He stops briefly but, seeing her unmoving form in the ditch, he panics and drives on. As the story unfolds, switching between past and present, and at a leisurely but gripping pace, the reader discovers the events which preceded and succeeded this accident. The young man is twenty two year old Curtis, whose father, Tom, is a forestry worker.
Soon after Tom finished high school his girlfriend, Elka, became pregnant and he had to put his plans and dreams on hold when he married her. He was just nineteen years old. He soon discovered that she was a deeply troubled young woman who found it difficult to adjust to motherhood. The quality of her parenting was erratic, she left home on several occasions and Tom often feared for Curtis’s safety. When she left for the final time Curtis was five, his sister Erin was just three months old and Tom was thrust into single-parenthood. Essentially a decent, if rather taciturn man, he always strove to do the right thing – for his children, his employees and even for the animals he liked to hunt –all creatures deserved a “clean” kill and, if he just wounded them, he saw it as his duty to track them down and finish what he had started. From the glimpses we get of some very tender moments with his children, although he “wasn’t in the habit of holding his children”, it is clear that he isn’t an emotionless man. However, he is emotionally illiterate – “I’ve never been any good at giving people what they need” – and, for the most part, demonstrates his caring by fixing things; by looking for practical solutions to problems. He had made sacrifices to bring up his children but now, with Curtis having left home a few years earlier, and Erin soon to be going to university, he could now plan to fulfil his own dream of buying a plot of land in the forest he loved, building a cabin and living as he wanted to. However, when he is working deep in the forest, with his team of planters, the police come looking for Curtis and he swiftly recognises that parenthood has no cut-off point, that he needs to leave the forest, to track his son down before the police do, and to find a way to guide him through this crisis. He acknowledges to himself that he has so often failed his son, and that the last time he saw him he had failed to listen when Curtis tried to tell him about the accident; he must not fail him again.
I found this a powerful, sad and haunting story which, once I had started it, I had difficulty putting down – and then, as soon as I had finished it, I wanted to immediately read it again. As the story moved between past and present, I enjoyed the gradual exploration of the changing relationship between father and son, and the reasons behind the difficulties they had in communicating their needs and feelings. In childhood Curtis had always been more of a dreamer than his tomboyish sister. Both children had been taught, from an early age, how to handle a gun but whilst Erin enjoyed the hunting trips with their father and was a good shot, Curtis didn’t, and wasn’t; he felt that he was a disappointment to his father. Although Erin appeared to be on the periphery of the developing story, she came across as something of a lynchpin for both Tom and Curtis, and linked their stories. In fact, the
various women in the story – Erin, Tom’s mother (another lynchpin), his estranged mother in law, who still lives an alternative life-style on a small, remote island, Tom’s girlfriend, the woman he has an affair with in the forestry camp and even Curtis’s girlfriend – all appear, in different ways, to exert a powerful influence on the men in the story, and on its progress. I found all the characters credible and memorable, and found myself caring deeply about what happened to them – even when I felt frustrated with them!
Ideas surrounding personal freedom versus responsibility, negotiating the choices people are faced with throughout life, making sacrifices, fulfilling dreams, were all major, recurring themes throughout the unfolding narrative. I thought that the author captured the psychological dynamics of these struggles in a convincing way, and that she handled the ending of the story in a credible way. I really enjoyed her spare prose – at times lyrical, at other times sharp and edgy – and thought that it really conveyed a powerful sense of people in crisis as well as of time and place. Her descriptions of the forest, of the back-breaking work of re-afforestation, of the mountains and the island were so atmospheric that I could almost smell the earth, see the panoramic views, experience the mist descending – and feel the mosquitoes and black-fly bite!
This truly is a remarkable debut novel, reminiscent for me of Kent Haruf’s Plainsong, and Marilynne Robinson’s Gilead, and I hope it won’t be too long before we are treated to another one from this talented author.
July 16, 2017
Oh man, what a book. I couldn't tell you how many times this thing left me feeling a touch overwhelmed, with its precision, its subtleness and its total energy. If I could describe a book as an ellipses, it would be this one. So much goes unsaid, but is done so at just the right time, and leaves the pages brimming with the fallout. Sarah Leipciger is a stunning writer. As far as its central plot goes, it doesn't really do anything particularly new; a taciturn single father who doesn't really know what he's doing, his eldest son makes a huge mistake, and everything unspools from there. But it's the book itself, the words, the characters, the pace - it's a finely crafted piece of art that was quietly gripping at me when I least expected it to. I can't wait to read more from her.
November 30, 2019
What a beautiful read. This book is set throughout BC, and I think the author captured the scenery and setting of the province beautifully. A thought provoking plot was carried well by the main character. I wanted to know Tom so much more, but I enjoyed the perspective of Tom from his son, Curtis. Our assumptions and misjudgments about peoples actions is portrayed well. The journey of their relationship amid their own personal conflicts, and then a decision by a father to show his love for his son was well executed.
My only hesitancy while reading this book was the focus on male characters, coming from a female author. The focus on actions (and inaction in some cases) could be a cautionary note for assumptions made on gender.
My only hesitancy while reading this book was the focus on male characters, coming from a female author. The focus on actions (and inaction in some cases) could be a cautionary note for assumptions made on gender.
August 7, 2017
I absolutely loved this book. Beautifully written in clear and arresting prose, a lush Canadian landscape serving as a visual backdrop to the narrative. The author expertly intertwines the stories of a father and son, quietly revealing their shared heartbreak. The slow, detailed passages that focus on the technicalities of seemingly mundane things such as tree planting and shooting a rifle enrich the novel in a way that makes me thinks of other elegant writers of prose such as Atwood and Munro. This book will haunt you and keep you thinking about it long after you've read it. Highly recommend it.
October 20, 2024
This novel shows the great feeling of the author towards the land (the scene is set in Canadian British Colombia). I liked the descriptions of harsh inhospitable landscapes of wild beauty. It made me want to visit them.
I also enjoyed being introduced to the people inhabiting these parts who are unlike the city dwellers I'm used to.
"Tom agreed that the land had spirit... it was there where rock met sky, or in the fall of a needle to the ground, or the smell of sap on your knackles..."
"Sometimes it was hard to remember that other people didn't go by the rules you set for yourself."
I also enjoyed being introduced to the people inhabiting these parts who are unlike the city dwellers I'm used to.
"Tom agreed that the land had spirit... it was there where rock met sky, or in the fall of a needle to the ground, or the smell of sap on your knackles..."
"Sometimes it was hard to remember that other people didn't go by the rules you set for yourself."
August 20, 2017
A beautiful book about a father's quest to do the right thing for his children, despite the odds. This is set in British Columbia and Leipciger's lyrical prose shows how the natural landscape can influence and shape human behaviour. I really enjoyed this novel and Tom, the protagonist, is someone who would be great company on a long journey into the wilderness. He's caring, intelligent and practical.
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