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4.5
This is the story of Edie Kiglatuk, a native of far off, underpopulated Ellesmere Island, a large island with few inhabitants, mostly Inuits. Edie is half Inuit, half qalunaat (white), but feels herself wholly Inuit. She is a hunting guide, teacher and has never been away from Nunavut. However, looking for leads she flies to Greenland and is surprised at the size of Nuuk. She is befriended by a young woman, another Inuit, who shows her the ropes about getting around the large city of Nuuk. Edie has never been to such a large town.The book begins when Edie is guiding two white men on a hunting trip. One of the men is killed, a shooting accident? Edie thinks not. But she is not believed. She is only a woman. Edie has been married, divorced, no kids. Her stepson, Joe, is the love of her life. He is planning to become a nurse. Edie is proud of him wanting to help his people. Then Joe commits suicide. He had no reason to. He was not depressed, he was ambitious. He was like a son to Edie, the son she never had. She is thirty-three and trying to get away from alcohol abuse. And she is winning the fight. But all this might set her back. Joe's alcoholic mother blames Edie for all this. She stole her husband, her son. Edie is bent on knowing the truth of all this. Does desolate Craig Island have hidden treasures beneath its ice and snow?Another character is Derek Palliser. Derek is part Inuit, part qalunaat, and part Cree (an enemy of Inuits). He feels as though he is put together with left over and unneeded parts. Derek is a police sergeant in another tiny Inuit town, a distance from Akisaq. He has problems with some of the Inuits who are at war with different family members. He is in love with a Russian lady, an artist, who is just using him. Derek is studying lemmings, he would have liked to be a biologist, but he couldn't afford a college education.Edie is a gutsy lady who tackles life unafraid. She wonders about what happened, these characters to die for an unknown reason. And she is determined to find out the truth.The writer's words pictures Ellesmere Island and the surrounding islands very realisticly, very poetically and brings readers into this fierce, harsh, snow and ice covered country. The far north is bleak, the air is cold and clear, this land has its own beauty.The reader is introduced to Edie's Aunt Mattie, a great airplane pilot, when she is not drunk, ex-husband, Sammy, who comes to visit Edie on a regular basis, his dominent older brother, the town mayor, Old Koperkuj, who wants nothing to do with the white world.Edie thinks about these characters having weaknesses, drugs, alcohol for example. But she pauses to think that she is not free from weakness, so who is she to judge.This book is filled with adventure and is set in a part of the world I am interested in but am unable to visit. Edie is full of courage, takes no foolishness from others, is determined to live life on her own terms, an admirable character. So get in touch with the Inuit world. Read the book.
