Critical Praise

"Beautifully written and astonishingly well researched. . . . It was the setting that swept me away, but the characters that I will remember."

——San Jose Mercury-News

"Richly textured. . . . Atmospheric and moving, this is an impressively assured debut."

——Publishers Weekly

"A haunting story that will remind many of Ondaatje's The English Patient–and that merits the comparison."

——Kirkus Reviews

"A poignant and lyrical first novel written with the assurance of a master–Alaska is beautifully realized in all its harshness and native magic."

——T. C. Boyle, author of Drop City