Play Book Tag discussion

I think by now everyone knows this is a story based on the first successful American expedition up the Wolverine River and into the unmapped Alaskan Territory. It is told from two points of view, that of Col Allen Forrester, the leader of the expedition, and his wife Sophie, who was left behind in Vancouver.

This captured my attention from the start, although whenever I looked back I wondered why - in the beginning there was not much that was on the face of it compelling, and yet I did not want to put the book down. When I got into the meat of it, the expedition details juxtaposed with Sophie's attempts at photography, it became totally captivating.

What kept me from a full 5 star rating was the ending, which I feel was a bit anticlimactic. I also was under the impression that this could have been a non-fiction book, based on the journals of the protagonists, and it was a bit of a let-down to realize that some of the characters on the expedition were fictional. I wish the author had detailed in an afterword exactly which characters are taken from history. I will have to do my own research into that. But I would round up my rating to 5.

Regarding comparisons to Snow Child, I think I liked that one marginally better, although I feel it's an apples to oranges comparison.

Also, I thought there would be more animals in it, and might not have posted it here for the tag of the month except that someone else already has, so I am following their lead.

I keep reading reviews of this one, and the ratings are so high, but somehow it isn't grabbing me. And I like stories about adventure and expeditions . . .but this sounds more about the wife? Is that accurate? I like your description that "there was not much on the face of it compelling" - - that's how it keeps sounding. Yet everyone is loving it so I have to really be more open minded.

I think the story is evenly split between the wife and the husband. And there's the third story line that has to do with the correspondence between the great nephew of this couple and a young Alaskan museum curator who receives their historical documents. I enjoyed all of the different plotlines and I thought the book was perfectly ballanced.

Anita, have you read Care's review of this book? I don't think she posted it on GR, but it's on her blog. She does a much better job of promoting this book than I did.

The thing is, lately I have been starting books and dropping them, and this one just kept my attention for some reason. Ivey's writing has a sense of serenity to it, and it's very character-driven, which I like.

Anita wrote: "And I like stories about adventure and expeditions . . .but this sounds more about the wife? Is that accurate? "

As Judith said it is evenly divided, I think that the wife's courage and character make her a popular character, but the story of the expedition is pretty dynamic as well and there is a native young woman on the expedition who was also a character of great courage.