Memoirs of a Reluctant Archaeologist

by Yvonne Kjorlien

Elise Marquette likes dead people but digging up the dead doesn't pay. Consulting Archaeology does. Her desperate need for money has biological anthropologist Elise stuck in a mundane job working for greedy, callous oil companies. It's a soul-sucking existence and she can't see a way out.

As if that wasn't enough, Elise's family is a disaster, and she's given up on love and romance. Just when she'd resigned herself to torturous family dinners, cheap comfort food, safety forms and steel-toed boots, she meets an archaeologist during a brief respite to Ireland. The attractive Gavin Cleary has Elise re-evaluating what happiness is and what it's truly worth.

Get ready to join Elise Marquette on a wild ride full of adventure, heart, and a healthy dose of humour. Eat your heart out, Indiana Jones - Elise is the new queen of archaeology!

269 pages, Paperback

First published April 5, 2012

About the author

Yvonne is currently occupying a desk job at a local post-secondary institution whilst she recovers from her time as a Consulting Archaeologist. "It's not the years, honey; it's the mileage," as Indiana Jones says. Part of her recovery was writing the novel, 'Memoirs of a Reluctant Archaeologist,' which no one believes contains more than a grain of truth.

When she's awake and coherent, Yvonne's pen scratches whatever piece of paper she can lay her hands on. Her next (or first) novel, 'Waiting for Fate,' is nearing what hopefully could be perceived as 'completion.' It is the first in a New Adult trilogy.

You can follow/nag/stalk Yvonne at her blog cited above.

Reviews

[Scott Skipper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Elise Marquette, archeologist/anthropologist, with a passion for human bones, is stuck in a "go nowhere" job doing archeological assessments for oil companies and the military. Her days are spent mired in conflict with workmates, bureaucrats safety managers and the myriad of regulations that kill productivity in twenty-first century industry and degrades the quality of life itself. Elise's dysfunctional family rates twelve on a scale of ten and she has resigned herself to a life of lonely celibacy—and then there's that comfort food thing. It looks like Elise will being spending all of her days trudging around with the mosquitoes under the blazing sun on the prairies and through the muskegs of western Canada, forever, wearing a day glow vest, hardhat and steel toed boots while lugging a ream of safety forms. Then she spends a single afternoon in Galway with an Irish archeologist named Gavin.

This is not a romance. I don't read romance. It is frankly a memoir, fictionalized I presume, and I surprised myself by becoming engrossed so early in the story, but then again, it has many things I like: archeology, wit, government bashing, and bears. Memoirs are by definition a first person narrative and it is the strength of Elise's character that makes this book irresistible. She is a cynical, foulmouthed, girl-next-door that the reader, of either gender, simply wants to get to know. For those who have tried to do business in the brave new world of over-regulation, Elise is a kindred spirit. For those who haven't had the pleasure, this is an insight into the absurdity of modern society. Everyone will relate to her trials with co-workers and family. It's a quirky story that's well worth the price of admission.