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Silence of the North
Records the struggles of a woman who confronted the challenges and hardships of life in the wilderness of northern Canada
208 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1972
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
May 21, 2015
4.5* really.
"Will you be all right?" Jack Hamilton asked before he left.
"I'll be all right," I told him firmly.
All Right? I wondered. I was twenty-six, a homesteader-trapper's widow with three little children, one hundred and sixty acres of brush-grown land, almost none of it cleared, a small log house, an old .30-30 Winchester-and precious little else."
Much as I would like to be able to imagine what it must be like to live in place that is remote and wild, I can't. Even less when I try to imagine what it must have been like to try and live in a very remote part of the world before telephones were available, before even roads were built, before people had ready access to transportation of any kind other than their own two feet. To imagine what it would be like to have to spend near enough every waking hour on the hunt for food and wood just in order to survive is just as difficult.
It is all the more important to me that books like The Silence of the North are kept in print. Fredrickson may not be the best story-teller or the most skilled at writing, but do I really care how she tells her story when the story itself is so staggeringly amazing?
It is not even 100 years ago that Fredrickson set out - first with her family, then with her husband - to live in the largely undeveloped parts of western Canada. Her encounters with the elements and the wild life - wolves, bears, moose, you name it - strongly reminded me of Jack London's stories, except that Fredrickson's memoirs were less poetic and also treated wild animals with the respect they deserve.Close encounters would often result in a fight for survival.
"Will you be all right?" Jack Hamilton asked before he left.
"I'll be all right," I told him firmly.
All Right? I wondered. I was twenty-six, a homesteader-trapper's widow with three little children, one hundred and sixty acres of brush-grown land, almost none of it cleared, a small log house, an old .30-30 Winchester-and precious little else."
Much as I would like to be able to imagine what it must be like to live in place that is remote and wild, I can't. Even less when I try to imagine what it must have been like to try and live in a very remote part of the world before telephones were available, before even roads were built, before people had ready access to transportation of any kind other than their own two feet. To imagine what it would be like to have to spend near enough every waking hour on the hunt for food and wood just in order to survive is just as difficult.
It is all the more important to me that books like The Silence of the North are kept in print. Fredrickson may not be the best story-teller or the most skilled at writing, but do I really care how she tells her story when the story itself is so staggeringly amazing?
It is not even 100 years ago that Fredrickson set out - first with her family, then with her husband - to live in the largely undeveloped parts of western Canada. Her encounters with the elements and the wild life - wolves, bears, moose, you name it - strongly reminded me of Jack London's stories, except that Fredrickson's memoirs were less poetic and also treated wild animals with the respect they deserve.Close encounters would often result in a fight for survival.
July 28, 2019
This 1972 memoir by Olive A. Frerickson was definitely helped by the writing skills of Outdoor Life magazine editor Ben East, who is listed as co-author. I'm happy he became involved, because her jaw-dropping adventures may never have been recorded otherwise. Olive had little formal education but had several lifetimes of experience. The youngest of twelve children, left motherless at the age of ten, Olive accompanied her family into northern Alberta in 1910, when the area was unsurveyed wilderness. She grew up in the north, married, had children, was widowed, and remarried -- all the while loving and battling the majestic landscape. One early chapter in the book --when she describes how she barely survived one winter living with her trapper husband and new baby in an abandoned log cabin --was just horrifying. I have read some pretty interesting pioneer memoirs but this one is truly gripping. My only criticism is that the book isn't long enough.
I was unaware that the book was later made into a movie starring Ellen Burstyn and now I hope to track it down and watch it.
I was unaware that the book was later made into a movie starring Ellen Burstyn and now I hope to track it down and watch it.
November 17, 2014
Absolutely wonderful account of a woman's survival adventures in remote northern Canada in the early 1920s and on. Written in a folksy, conversational fashion, it covers author Olive's life from 9 years of age to her 70's. She had such an adventurous life! Face to face with wolves, bears, angry moose, and - worse - Mother Nature's fury. From near starvation to the loss of loved ones, everything is related with verve, pluck, and humor.
If you like pioneer women's accounts - which I do - this won't disappoint.
My only criticism is that the edition I read had no map, so I had a hard time keeping track of the places, although I did remember Prince George from a trip I took north myself a few years back.
If you like pioneer women's accounts - which I do - this won't disappoint.
My only criticism is that the edition I read had no map, so I had a hard time keeping track of the places, although I did remember Prince George from a trip I took north myself a few years back.
February 28, 2015
Reading this book was a rare privilege. The memoir of Olive Fredrickson is one that people who read it will never forget. It details her life as a child to an older woman in the Northern Canadian wilderness. It is a tale of survival against the harshness of nature. The life she recounts are so incredible it is hard to think that anyone could have lived through it. People were made of sterner stuff back then. If you are feeling ungrateful reading this book will having you feeling grateful for the soft lives we live today. This is an old book published in 1972 so may be hard to find. My copy came from a thrift store. It is one of the most unusual books I've ever read.
July 29, 2010
I loved outdoor, wilderness, survival type books and this definately had all 3. A hard to find book but very good.
June 17, 2020
Such a cool lady with such a cool life.
June 14, 2014
A heroic true story written by the woman who lived the adventure. Written in the 30's about migrating from Alberta to Nothern British Columbia, Olive and her family have many trembling adventures.
July 25, 2026
I was pretty sure this was going to be a five-star read for most of the book. Silence of the North is an incredible story, and I’m so thankful we have this glimpse into someone’s life in the early 1900s. There is something fascinating about hearing firsthand what life was like in the North during that time—the isolation, the hardships, the resilience, and the connection to the land.
The first two-thirds of the book were outstanding. I found myself completely drawn into her experiences and grateful that someone preserved this story for future generations.
There were a few things that kept it from being a five-star rating for me. Her disdain for wolves was difficult to read, as was the treatment of bears and her new husband shooting bald eagles in an effort to protect young deer. Of course, it’s easy for us to look back with modern conservation values and criticize people from another era, and I try to keep that perspective in mind. Their understanding of wildlife and their relationship with the natural world was different from ours today. Still, those parts were frustrating.
My other disappointment was the final portion of the book after she remarried. For me, the story lost some of the magic and sense of adventure that made the earlier chapters so compelling. I almost wished the book had ended before that point, because the first part was such a powerful account of life in the North.
Even with those criticisms, this is a remarkable memoir and a valuable piece of history. I’m glad I read it, and I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in wilderness, northern life, or stories of people who lived in a very different world than the one we know today.
The first two-thirds of the book were outstanding. I found myself completely drawn into her experiences and grateful that someone preserved this story for future generations.
There were a few things that kept it from being a five-star rating for me. Her disdain for wolves was difficult to read, as was the treatment of bears and her new husband shooting bald eagles in an effort to protect young deer. Of course, it’s easy for us to look back with modern conservation values and criticize people from another era, and I try to keep that perspective in mind. Their understanding of wildlife and their relationship with the natural world was different from ours today. Still, those parts were frustrating.
My other disappointment was the final portion of the book after she remarried. For me, the story lost some of the magic and sense of adventure that made the earlier chapters so compelling. I almost wished the book had ended before that point, because the first part was such a powerful account of life in the North.
Even with those criticisms, this is a remarkable memoir and a valuable piece of history. I’m glad I read it, and I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in wilderness, northern life, or stories of people who lived in a very different world than the one we know today.
September 11, 2024
This early 1970’s true adventure life story of Olive Fredrickson is an amazing adventure set in a Canada and Pacific NW.
What a plucky, brave woman living in difficult times in the early 1900’s through isolation, hunger, single parenting in the wild winters if Northern Canada.
This is her autobiography with a very plucky narration and can-do attitude. It does have a ghost writer who spent a great deal of time and brought cohesion to this remarkable story.
What a plucky, brave woman living in difficult times in the early 1900’s through isolation, hunger, single parenting in the wild winters if Northern Canada.
This is her autobiography with a very plucky narration and can-do attitude. It does have a ghost writer who spent a great deal of time and brought cohesion to this remarkable story.
March 24, 2014
A very nice book, Author lived a very exciting life and very unusual. But it sort of bored me. I would have liked her to go into more detail about the traveling when out of food and in the snow , etc. As I said the BOOK may have been a bore but I am certain the author never was a BORE.
September 23, 2021
The life that the author lived was fascinating, and I could not put this book down. She was a courageous, strong woman to have lived the life she did, and successfully raise her family while working so very hard. Her descriptions of the North and her experiences left me in awe. From her descriptions of a hard life while trying to get settled in wild country, raising children while worrying they'd all starve, all the way through her desire to go deeper into the wilderness because she missed it later in life - it's all told in with a rhythm that draws you in. If she had more books, I'd pick them up.
June 25, 2019
This is the true story of one woman's struggle in the harsh, cold north country of Canada in the early to mid 1900's. It's amazing that Olivia went through what she did and survived, so many others would have given up. Her husband died unexpectedly leaving her with three small children and no choice but to fight the elements for her survival. I picked this "oldie" up at a used booksale and am glad I did.
October 6, 2022
Excellent nonfiction story of a pioneering woman and her family in the uppermost backwoods' of Canada during early settlements. The book was very descriptive of the beauty and hardships they experienced during their lives. Bitter cold, starvation, and the human desire to live and not give up. They just don't make people like they used to. Read it....and be thankful for everything you have in life.
June 4, 2024
What a story of pure stubborn perseverance and will to survive! I enjoyed reading Olive's story. God prepared her for her life with a strengthening growing up experience. I was only sad she didn't see God's keeping and preserving, in the midst of all the struggle. I see it!
I really enjoyed all the stories of close encounters with wild animals of many kinds.
I really enjoyed all the stories of close encounters with wild animals of many kinds.
January 8, 2018
A writer from Holly, Michigan translates the journals of a settler in Alberta. There's so many events, it kept me up every night (along with my coughing), constantly turning the page to see what's going to happen next. Talk about "survival".
May 29, 2021
Thoroughly enjoyed reading about Olive's life, especially as so much of it happened in the area we're living. She was a woman of true grit, who endured many challenges and overcame them all. An encouraging example of what we can actually do if we set our mind to it.
October 3, 2022
This is an amazing story of survival and a woman who suffered through many trials. She lived off the land and did what she had to do to survive, from fishing, trapping and hunting. A lot of the time she was doing it on her own while raising three children.
May 25, 2024
Very interesting, but a little slow to read. A good read if you are interested in learning what life was like for those who lived on land basically untouched by humans-the joys and hardships and everything in between.
October 7, 2024
Breathtaking first person account of adventure and life in the artic wilderness, “The Silence of the North” by Olive A Frederickson.
More at
https://medium.com/@vram45/the-silenc...
More at
https://medium.com/@vram45/the-silenc...
August 19, 2018
The life of a woman of true spirit, grit and determination.
February 24, 2019
Olive/Alta lived a hard life on the frontier and has some fascinating and terrifying experiences. I enjoyed this book and the authors’s outlook on life.
April 12, 2019
I stumbled across this book at a used book sale while travelling with my parents last summer and bought it for $2. This was a great book and I’m so glad that I found it!
August 16, 2020
B. nonfiction, adventure, Alaska, Canada, wilderness, from stash, keep
March 14, 2022
Wish I knew what happened to Jeep!
January 28, 2012
An extraordinary telling of a woman's life in the wilderness. Harrowing scenes written well: paddling a canoe with her toddler huddled in the bow and her baby on her lap as she tries to down a moose in the water - not on land because she could not wrestle a moose into the canoe from land. Fredrickson walked 40 miles, shadowed on either side by a wolf pack, hoping to barter her future for food. Will she have to walk back, starving and grieving, or will her crop be sold? Moose with tempers, a bear on a cruel mission, a faulty gun her only protector - reality is more treacherous and cold than fiction. Fabulous read, firmly set in my top 5 nonfiction books.
March 2, 2020
I cannot believe that I neglected to write a review for this wonderful book! I first read it in the 80s after I saw the movie (1981). I have since then read this book again and have referred to many friends. In the forward of the book written by Ben East, he writes a heartfelt and admiring first meeting with Olive Fredrickson.
Olive Fredrickson (ne: Goodwin) recounts her early life as the youngest of 12 children, she was deprived of schooling and exposed to a very hard life. It is a story with heart, told by the person who lived it. I highly recommend both the book and the movie.
Olive Fredrickson (ne: Goodwin) recounts her early life as the youngest of 12 children, she was deprived of schooling and exposed to a very hard life. It is a story with heart, told by the person who lived it. I highly recommend both the book and the movie.
June 1, 2012
This story amazed me with the life situations this woman overcame. It gave me a greater insight and appreciation of frontier life at the turn of the twentieth century. The writing was plain so the drama of the story was kept in perspective. This is a story of a woman doing what had to be done without fanfare. Her courage, strength of character, and understanding of people in her life without bitterness was impressive. It is a wonder this story hasn't been made into a movie!
March 25, 2015
An amazing real life survival story from the 30's. If your a survivalist the chapters 'Trap-line Winter' and 'Spring of Starvation' are good demonstrations of what it really takes to survive in a wilderness situation and should leave you with pause to think. Forget three days of survival like 'Dual Survival' or one week (now 10 days) 'Survivorman' try a winter in the subarctic (or don’t you'll die!) An awesome read for its gritty reality.
February 19, 2013
Read this book many years ago. Reread this past weekend as am taking a Writing Your Memoirs course. Looking at different types of "voice" in writing.
A harrowing story of courageous woman's life in the BC & AB wilderness in 1930's and 40's. Good descriptions of physical and emotional surroundings.
A harrowing story of courageous woman's life in the BC & AB wilderness in 1930's and 40's. Good descriptions of physical and emotional surroundings.
June 29, 2008
This was a book I don't think I would have picked up without my Mom's telling me what a good book it was. It was an entertaining read, and I can say that Olice Fredrickson is one hell of a lot tougher thane me.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews