Kurt Johnson (3) (1958–)

Two young women, Lee and Holly, have embarked on a canoe trip on the Thelon River in the Canadian Arctic. Holly has made the trip before and is eager to share the adventure with Lee, a novice at this sort of wilderness adventure but just as eager to learn. However, just a week into the trip, Holly falls while taking a selfie at the top of a cliff. Lee manages to pull her out of the water but she is comatose and dies shortly after. Without any way of communication and with no other people in show more sight for days, Lee must make the long, dangerous journey alone, determined not just to make it for herself but to bring Holly home to her family.

Although The Barrens by father and daughter coauthors Kurt and Ellie Johnson, is, on the surface, an adventure tale, it is mainly a character study. Not to say there isn't plenty of action and nail-biting peril but, at its heart, this is a story of love, loss, grief, and one woman's resilience in the face of adversity. It is told from Lee's perspective as we learn her back story, her love for Holly and her sense of loss, her descriptions of the ecosystem, as well as the stories she makes up to help her through the long days as she struggles to reach civilization including the life that she and Holly could have had. A very compelling and intelligent read.

Thanks to Edelweiss+ and Simon & Schuster for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review show less

While there are sections which nicely depict the scenery, animals, riverway, and paddling, this isn't so much a travelogue as it is a look at the inner dialogue of someone who has been thru trauma and is a survivor. At first I had a hard time accepting that Lee would have the strength to do a wilderness paddle when we don't know that she's ever been in a canoe, but after hearing some of her childhood remembrances I completely accept her strength.
The audiobook reading was done in a fairly show more flat voice, which drained the emotional response from the tale, but in a way also enhanced this as someone who has learned to just get thru whatever difficulty life has thrown at her.
A second theme was the development of a lesbian relationship, and concerns about how others (especially Holly's parents) would view them. show less