I found this to be an intriguing and enjoyable historical fiction novel. The story takes place in two time streams – the more modern being in 1949 and the earlier in the 18 hundreds. A woman who wants to be taken seriously as a modern intelligent person finds herself as a stay at home mother living in the shadow of her difficult mother-in-law. She is tasked with sorting through the documents found in the old family home, and when after a storm a body is unearthed the mysteries they hint at deepen.
The other story follows the family ancestor, a medical student who drunkenly agrees to be the ships surgeon on a whaling vessel headed for the arctic and the gruelling voyage he endures and the aftermath of that.
I found the book interesting – as you would expect with historical fiction there was classism, racism and sexism in spades, which our characters had to deal with, but the book also tackles timeless issues of love and family relationships and the blessing and trials that come with these things.
Sarah Wray Writer 