West by Carys Davies

John Cyrus Bellman left his Lewiston, PA farm and his only child to embark on a quest into the west. He knew he would be gone at least two years. Was he a fool, like his sister judged, or romantic and adventurous, as he appeared to his daughter Bess? 

Bellman's desire to see undiscovered country was rooted in a longing to find the living creatures whose huge bones had been discovered in Kentucky. He had already crossed an ocean, from England to America, built a farm, had a child, and lost a wife. But the West beckoned with its mysteries and he could no longer stay put.

Bellman studied the Lewis and Clark Expedition maps at the subscription library. His plan was to follow their trail...but to diverge into the vast spaces they had left unstudied. He was certain he would find the mammoth creatures alive. He packed up trading items and set off on his journey, leaving his daughter and farm to his sister's care.

Carys Davies novel West takes readers across hostile landscapes both wild and settled. As Bellman faces cruel winters and lean seasons, accompanied only by a Native American boy, back in Lewistown his daughter Bess survives in an isolated land without parental love or friends. Bess dreams of her father's travels, longing to see the library maps herself. And, unprotected in the world, as Bess nears puberty, men watch her and wait and scheme.

Bellman's decision to go on his journey seemed to me at once a quest and an escape, resulting in a "night sea journey" recognition of what he had given up in leaving his known world. He struggles with the choices he made, realizing that sometimes we set our mind on what seems important only to realize we have been mistaken in our values.

The novel is beautifully written. 

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

West

by Cays Davies

April 24, 2018

Scribner
ISBN 9781501179341, 1501179349
Hardcover $22.00 USD 

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