Helpful Score: 7
This is an intriguing story which will have you thinking for many days after....a horrific murder in the frigid north of Canada exposes many other mysteries, including the mysteries that each character may find in themselves and their lives.
The characters are complex and the plot is engaging enough to keep the pages turning. You'll want to find out not only who did it...but what are the secrets that each of the characters is keeping.
I personally found the end a bit of a disappointment, but I'm not sure that I know what a preferable denouement would be....
The characters are complex and the plot is engaging enough to keep the pages turning. You'll want to find out not only who did it...but what are the secrets that each of the characters is keeping.
I personally found the end a bit of a disappointment, but I'm not sure that I know what a preferable denouement would be....
Helpful Score: 6
So Canadian in its sensibility. Great to read a novel set in the 1860's that doesn't involve the U.S. Civil War - there is more universe out there. Well written, the story slowly evolves, wraps you in the characters, vividly evokes the winter landscape, and develops a tense drama. It illuminates life one hundred fifty years ago in actions described and words used. It does not always have to be graphic, rough sex and shoot em up action. This author can still convey love and tenderness along with violence with descriptive passages and characters. I don't think I want to repost my copy of this book; it is worth a reread.
Helpful Score: 5
This has to be one of my favorite reads, ever. There is a murder, a boy goes missing shortly after, and his mother tracts him down, though the Canadian wilderness in the winter. Very engrossing.
Helpful Score: 3
The setting was beautiful for this book and history of the period. Nice job for a first novel. The mystery was good to the end. I thought she could have done a better job with solving it, but it was her first novel. Definately worth the read.
Helpful Score: 3
Beautifully written 2006 Costa Book of the Year Winner. Murder mystery set in fronteirlands of Canada. Recommended read.
Helpful Score: 3
This novel pulls you in and leads you on a journey along with the characters of the book. It is good writing and you want the mystery to be solved. I wanted to learn more about certain characters. It is intentionally left vague in some spots in which the reader gets to fill in the cracks. I admit, I am a romance junkie. Therefore, I must rewrite the ending to satisfy. Not a bad ending, just not the fireworks I like so much.
Helpful Score: 3
This book is a 2006 Costa Book of the Year Winner. The story is set in the year 1867 in the Northern Territory of Canada. It's a tale of mystery, coming of age, and inter-racial/middle age romance set in the frozen tundra of Canada. If you liked Cold Mountain,you'll like this.
I give it 4 stars.
I give it 4 stars.
Helpful Score: 2
One of my new favorites! A page turner that makes you feel for the characters and reminds me of the writing style of Louise Erdirch in a lot of ways. The author takes you on a journey you don't want to end!
Helpful Score: 2
This book left me with that dissatisfied longing we get when we want the book to have a different ending or we simply want to read "the rest of the story." I did guess some of the surprises as I went along, but it didn't detract from the story as told. Not all was truly believable -- the noble savage guide, the pioneer mother who is fit enough to walk miles across the frozen winterscape in a pair of moccasins, but still a good read...definitely left me wanting more!
Helpful Score: 2
This book was very hard for me to get through. I liked the story, and I felt that the imagery was excellent, but I have to agree with another reviewer that the story left me feeling disappointed. I felt that the story was unresolved, and after reading the last page, I was left with many unanswered questions and a sense of confusion. This is definitely one of those books that was worth the read for me but that I won't be reading again anytime soon.
Helpful Score: 1
well written, mystery and setting completes the story.
While I think the author did a great job of evoking sense of time and place, I think the story itself lacked believability in some places. I did not enjoy the fact that the Mrs. Ross sections were written in the first person. It almost always made me stop to wonder who was narrating. I had looked forward to reading this book but in the end was left a bit disappointed.
I normally would have not read this book but it was suggested from my book club. I found it to be very hard to get into at first because it had so many character right in the beginning of the book. Once I got half way through it, it did get more interesting. I did think the author described the characters and the landscape very well. But there were some of the characters that he never told you at the end what happened to them. He just sort of left me hanging on some of them. This book was OK but not one that I would ever read again.
It is always interesting to read a book that teaches me more about Native American culture and strong character development. I enjoyed it very much.
I really enjoyed this story. I would pick up the novel and feel like I was stepping into a whole other world. It really is worth reading. Highly recommend it!
This is a beautifully written book with a tight plot, well defined characters and two interconnected mysteries solved. It is set in Northern Canada during the winter with the heyday of the Hudson Bay Company as a backdrop.
Day to day life is hard, the wilderness is dangerous, the relationship between the Indians, the Hudson Bay people and the locals is tenuous at best, but they must rely on one another. The descriptions of the life and times are very authentic.
Highly recommended.
Day to day life is hard, the wilderness is dangerous, the relationship between the Indians, the Hudson Bay people and the locals is tenuous at best, but they must rely on one another. The descriptions of the life and times are very authentic.
Highly recommended.
Fabulous read. Trappers, Indians, illicit affairs, adventure. wonderful descriptions. A page turner and one to be shared with your favorite readers.
Beautifully written but with an astonishing density, this novel created an incredible sense of atmosphere. I felt the cold, the chill, and the biting wind. I could easily imagine I was in the Northern Territory, watching this strange little town with the strange little occupants, each as isolated as the town of Dove River. And the wolves - such a lovely metaphor for misunderstood humans.
The book's murder felt more like a backdrop than a plot device and now that I've finished, I think that was the intention. Penney's story swept the stark landscape, grabbing all sorts of characters and tiny dramas: the two missing girls from long ago - and the effect they have on the townsfolk; the scandalous woman in the religious community at the far edges of the territory; the older man trying to live down the failures of his past; the young man trying to establish himself in his career despite the harsh disapproval and cajoling of his peers, the teenage son finding out who he is and of what he is capable; and the mother of the missing boy, who struggles to find her place in the world amid an uncertain marriage and a somewhat shady past. Such beautiful stories meshed together.
But the meshed stories are also the downfall of the book; so much is going on that the loose ends fray. The author never ties them off. So much is left unanswered and unresolved. Nevertheless, I'm glad I read this and I'll read more of what Stef Penney writes.
The book's murder felt more like a backdrop than a plot device and now that I've finished, I think that was the intention. Penney's story swept the stark landscape, grabbing all sorts of characters and tiny dramas: the two missing girls from long ago - and the effect they have on the townsfolk; the scandalous woman in the religious community at the far edges of the territory; the older man trying to live down the failures of his past; the young man trying to establish himself in his career despite the harsh disapproval and cajoling of his peers, the teenage son finding out who he is and of what he is capable; and the mother of the missing boy, who struggles to find her place in the world amid an uncertain marriage and a somewhat shady past. Such beautiful stories meshed together.
But the meshed stories are also the downfall of the book; so much is going on that the loose ends fray. The author never ties them off. So much is left unanswered and unresolved. Nevertheless, I'm glad I read this and I'll read more of what Stef Penney writes.
Fascinating, complex. Excellent characterizations, suspenseful. Penney's researcj and attention to detail paid off. Great book for a book group that really likes to discuss meaty subjects and stories.
a new take on a familiar historical time and setting. Where I live, the bad winter weather is a complaint for several months of the year - this puts things in perspective. I enjoyed the book.
This is the author's first novel. It is very hard to believe that someone could bring characters to life, weave a complex and intriguing set of stories and maintain such an engaging style and do it in her first novel.
It is mesmerizing.
It is mesmerizing.
Enjoyed book. Good story and interesting information on Canadian history.
This is an interesting read. Set in the Canadian territories in the late 1860's. A man is brutally murdered in the middle of the night. He was an employee of the Hudson Bay Co. A mother's teenage son is missing and she fears he may have been the murderer. Various twists and turns throughout the story make for an interesting read. Description of conditions and life in the elements is very good.
I really enjoyed this book! The relationships of the characters are complex and interesting. It isn't going to change your life but it is an enjoyable read.
A twisting yarn from the depths of the snow and past years. Two sisters were lost in the wilderness years ago. A fur trapper is murdered. A young adopted teen runs off. A mother in search of her son. The young naïve Hudson Bay Company representative is in the area. All set off to set things right, yet the truth is a cold journey.
1867, CANADA As winter tightens its grip on the isolated settlement of Dove River, a woman steels herself for the journey of a lifetime. a man has been brutally murdered and her 17 year old son has disappeared. the violence has re-opened old wounds and inflamed deep-running tensions in the frontier township - some want to solve the crime, others seek only to exploit it.
To clear her son's name, she has no choice but to follow the tracks leaving the dead man's cabin and head north into the forest and desolate landscape that lies beyond it.
To clear her son's name, she has no choice but to follow the tracks leaving the dead man's cabin and head north into the forest and desolate landscape that lies beyond it.
This isn't my normal type of book, but I liked it alot. The writing is great and the characters really stay with you. A nice slow, languid read. Even if you put it down for a couple of days, you get right back into the story. I would recommend.
