Finding John Rae

by Alice Jane Hamilton

Literary Nonfiction. This creative nonfiction biography of the celebrated Arctic explorer Dr. John Rae begins in 1854 when, on a mapping expedition to the Boothia Peninsula, Rae discovers the missing link in the Northwest Passage. On the same trip, a chance encounter with an Inuit hunter leads him to uncover the tragic fate that befell the officers and crew of the long–missing Franklin Expedition when, starving on the ice, they resorted to cannibalism. When the Scottish–born scientist and Hudson's Bay Company Chief Factor reports the shocking details about the men's demise to the British Admiralty, he is publicly belittled by such well–known Victorian society figures as the novelist Charles Dickens and Sir John Franklin's widow, Jane. From then on, Rae's life becomes a restless journey of soaring hope and bitter disappointment, as he attempts to restore his good reputation with the British public, defend the integrity of the Arctic natives who brought him detailed testimony about the evidence of cannibalism, and rebuild his shattered identity. Rae's search for what has been lost takes him to Hamilton, Lower Canada, across Rupert's Land to the Pacific Coast, to the Faroe Islands, across Greenland, and then finally home to the Orkney Islands where yet another turn of events catches him by surprise.

230 pages, Paperback

Published April 30, 2017

Reviews

[Louisa M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting story and well written.

[Nicky Getgood · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very good for me, I have a professional interest in John Rae and can find the factual history books a bit dry. This book was a bit more lively while never veering too far from the truth.

[Gill · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book a couple of years ago and accidentally picked up again in the library. I found it fairly informative, and am glad I read it. Living in Orkney it is good to be informed about at least some of the homegrown heroes, and this one could certainly do with a higher profile and to be better known.
However with time pressing this time I could not get into it easily and have abandoned it in favour of finishing other books before going away.
I'm rereading this now with a little more time to spend on it.
I enjoyed it this time and found her research to be good, I'd been surprised by the mention of thatched rooves, as I've not encountered one in all my time in Orkney. However a query to the Orkney Library Archives produced evidence from Yvonne, of the use of oat straw rope 'simmans' for thatching bedore the widespread use of stone roofing, and then slate. Now I have to read Janette Park’s book ‘Simmans, Sookans and Straw-backed Chairs’ too!
Hamilton has a good balance between Rae's private and work life, and it makes me inclined to view Dickens as a hypocrite who abandoned his stated belief in the equality of people to become Franklin's widow's hack for hire' defaming John Rae who was honest and expecting to be dealt with honestly himself.