Reviews
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"In lyrical prose, Smith-Nochasak digs out the psychological depths of her characters, extracting high drama from their gradually changing lives."
-- The Prairies Book Review "The Ice Widow stirred my emotions as few books do. I was fascinated, laughed at times, gasped with shock, found moments where I shook my head, sighed in magical moments, and yes, the story, at times, brought tears to my eyes." --A-M Mawhiney, author of Spindrifts "This is a novel with difficult and important themes, especially including inter-cultural empathy. In this book, the author does not shy away from speaking about the challenges faced by Indigenous culture in dealing with non-Indigenous persons." -- P. L. Stuart, author of The Drowned Kingdom series "This book is an honest reflection of a relationship, full of hope and the wisdom of the ages and will help the reader if he or she is ready, to look back on their own experience in love and life with a new understanding and acceptance." -- Bill Massey, author of Of Poets and Pioneers "The book reads like poetry in prose. She brings the North and its People to life quite vividly." -- Amazon Review |
About the Book
This is a love story, but not a romance.
How do we define love? Perhaps it is not something we do or feel, but something we are.
During her first teaching year away from her Halifax home—in Endor, an Inuit community on the far northern coast of Labrador—Anna Caine falls deeply in love with the raw beauty of the land, the warmth and acceptance of its people, and with Joshua Kalluk, an Inuk carpenter engaged to another. But when the pull of their brief affair proves insufficient to win Joshua from his betrothed, Anna leaves Endor abruptly and returns home, carrying Joshua’s child and ending her own engagement.
As the years pass, Anna and Joshua share parenting responsibilities for their son but little else. Joshua moved on with his wife and their growing family, while Anna found herself adrift, longing for what she had lost and struggling to come to terms with her choices, fighting to maintain an independence that always left her unfulfilled. It isn’t until she retires, amidst a terrifying global pandemic, and is called upon to act as a medical escort for Joshua, and eventually to accompany him on his final journey home, that she is forced to confront both the past and her own lingering feelings of love, shame, and regret.
The Ice Widow – A Story of Love and Redemption is a beautiful and heart-wrenching work of literary fiction that delves into themes of honour, compassion, and inter-cultural empathy. Life can be both beautiful and tragic but is a journey to be honoured both in spite of its struggles and because of them—a journey in which redemption is always possible.
During her first teaching year away from her Halifax home—in Endor, an Inuit community on the far northern coast of Labrador—Anna Caine falls deeply in love with the raw beauty of the land, the warmth and acceptance of its people, and with Joshua Kalluk, an Inuk carpenter engaged to another. But when the pull of their brief affair proves insufficient to win Joshua from his betrothed, Anna leaves Endor abruptly and returns home, carrying Joshua’s child and ending her own engagement.
As the years pass, Anna and Joshua share parenting responsibilities for their son but little else. Joshua moved on with his wife and their growing family, while Anna found herself adrift, longing for what she had lost and struggling to come to terms with her choices, fighting to maintain an independence that always left her unfulfilled. It isn’t until she retires, amidst a terrifying global pandemic, and is called upon to act as a medical escort for Joshua, and eventually to accompany him on his final journey home, that she is forced to confront both the past and her own lingering feelings of love, shame, and regret.
The Ice Widow – A Story of Love and Redemption is a beautiful and heart-wrenching work of literary fiction that delves into themes of honour, compassion, and inter-cultural empathy. Life can be both beautiful and tragic but is a journey to be honoured both in spite of its struggles and because of them—a journey in which redemption is always possible.
