Overview

When ice traps John MacLennan's ship in the Bering Strait in 1910, the youthful sailor, trying to widen a small fissure with dynamite, blows up his hands. He is taken by dogsled to a doctor, his captain vowing that they will wait for his safe return. But gangrene sets in, and John's hands have to be amputated. Then strong winds break the ice shelf and his ship sails off without him ...John gradually adapts to his new way of life, adopting Chukchi ways and finding friendship, and love, among his hosts. Even his role in the tragic, accidental death of his best friend, Toko, pulls him deeper into the community's folds. This is a remarkable tale of resilience and reconciliation, set in one of the most majestic and inhospitable environments on earth.

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9781846590405

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Reviews

'A fascinating account of the Chukchi way of life.' Stef Penney'It recalls the best work of Jack London and Herman Melville ... a novel in the grandest sense of the word.' Neal Pollack'Yuri Rytkheu is a world-class writer. It gave me the same haunting and powerful reading experience as reading Melville's travel fictions.' Howard Norman'Hauntingly and poetically brings the Arctic alive.' Orion'A graceful, moving story of cultures in collision - and concord - in the far north.' Kirkus Review

Author Information

Yuri Rytkheu was born into a family of Chukchi hunters in Siberia in 1930. He has sailed the Bering Sea, worked on Arctic geological expeditions, hunted whale, defended the indigenous Chukchi people since the fall of the Soviet Union, and championed Siberia's environment, in addition to writing over ten novels and collections of stories.

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