BOUNDLESS by Kathleen Winter (Anansi), 264 pages, $29.95 cloth. Rating: NNNNN
While our PM was triumphant when John Franklin’s ship was found in the Arctic, Kathleen Winter, in a brilliant op-ed piece in the Toronto Star, expressed her grief: only climate change could have made the discovery possible.
It’s something she knows first-hand, having navigated the Northwest Passage herself. In Boundless, her encounter with nature becomes a life-changing event – for her and for anyone who reads her account of it.
In the book, shortlisted for both the Charles Taylor Prize and last year’s Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust non-fiction award, Winter describes in delicate detail her journey by ship through Arctic waters. Thanks to her supple prose, her shipmates – a diverse group, from Nathan Rogers (Stan’s son) to Inuit teacher Aaju Peter – are fascinating characters and the spectacular land an inspirational guide to the limits of science and, well, any human attempt to tame the north.
Along the way, Winter weaves in stories of her past that explain why she’s embarked on the journey in the first place. She is the kind of narrator you crave: attentive to every natural wonder, whether seemingly insignificant, like tufts of animal fur, or obviously spectacular, like the columns of ice that line the seaway. And she has a loving respect for the native peoples and the land that compels her to ask deep questions about every aspect of it.
The title is not only a reference to the landscape, but acts as a challenge to anyone trying to contain it. Features that look inert, she realizes – the rocks, the ice – have their own movements and seem to breathe. By the time she’s finished her journey, she’s convinced there are no boundaries between living beings and the land. The ground is our creator – it’s ridiculous to think we can wield power over it.
Boundless is not just a walk on the tundra either. Winter plays a key role in disseminating the news that Franklin’s log has been found. And, unbelievably, her ship runs aground, leading to real danger.
It’s a beautiful, thrilling ride.
Winter talks about her experience at the Charles Taylor Prize brunch, Sunday (March 1) at the King Edward Hotel. See Readings, this page.
susanc@nowtoronto.com | @susangcole
