To The Bright Edge of the World by Eowyn Ivey

In 1885 Colonel Allen Forrester, a veteran of the Apache Wars, was commissioned to explore Alaskan territory newly acquired from the Russians. It is a journey that took Allen and his men into a land of myth and legend, encountering natives with vicious reputations, shapeshifters and shamans.

Forrester left behind his newly wed wife Sophie, an amateur naturalist whose sensitive love of beauty and the wonders of this world had enchanted him. Sophie endured hope and loss, and discovered work that fed her soul as she waited for her beloved's return.

Their story is told in letters and journals which have been given to an Alaskan museum by Allen's grandson, Walter, now elderly and wanting return the stories to their source. In those pages, museum curator Josh encounters his own lost Native American heritage, documented only in the words written by the Alaskan explorers.

To The Bright Edge of the World by Eowyn Ivey was an enchanting read, at once an adventure tale of Alaskan exploration and the story of an independent woman seeking self-fullfillment, determined to become a photographer.

It is also an exploration of how the evil we wreck returns to destroy us. Allen's team includes men who served with him during the Apache Wars. During their journey Lieut. Pruitt declines into a physical and spiritual morass, haunted by his participation in the massacre of Native American women and children. He is an empy shell, a living man without a soul. Can these bones live again?

The characters traverse more than miles; they are on a deep sea journey of transformation that brings an understanding of the harsh truths of life, for at the edge of the world comes life-altering knowledge.

I received a free ebook from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

To the Bright Edge of the World
Eowyn Ivey
Little, Brown, and Company
$26 hard cover
ISBN:9780316242851