The frozen climes of northern Canada are the backdrop for this tale of the people of Rankin Inlet, a small settlement on the western shore of Hudson Bay.  The local inhabitants are Inuit, and their village is growing steadily with the introduction of outsiders from various countries.  Alison, the heroine of the story, arrives at Rankin Inlet after travelling from her native Liverpool.  She has made the journey to take up a position at the local health centre, where she will be sharing the nursing duties with two other women.

Alison leaves the relative comfort of life in Liverpool for the adventure which unfolds as she gets to know the people and the way of life in Rankin Inlet.  The story begins in the 1970s and charts the highs and lows of life near the Arctic Circle over a period of thirty years.  Hunting and fishing are the main food providers in the area, but as the 'civilized' world encroaches upon the local population, tradition and progress come face to face.  Modern convenience foods, which are shipped in to the only store every spring, are replacing the traditional raw meat and fish.  Old traditions like the 'honey wagon' are gradually phased out as modern plumbing is installed, but there is resistance to change from many of the inhabitants, especially the older ones. 

The book is written as a series of letters between the main characters, which works very well as the reader has the story explained from different points of view.  There is an openness and honesty in the writing;  the unpleasant, and sometimes gory, aspects of life in the frozen north are not glossed over or sanitized.

An excellent first novel, which is both well written and well presented.

Reviewed on 01/12/2012 by ReviewTheBook.com Member Suzy Watts

Rankin Inlet, a Novel by Mara Feeney

I find it incredible that this is a debut novel, it is so well-written. Mara Feeney has written a wonderful novel taking place in a part of Canada few people know about. The characters and descriptions of life in Rankin Inlet are so real that it is difficult to realize this is a novel and not a true story. Ms. Feeney has personal experience to draw from. The book is written with a very compelling knowledge of life in the isolated north, and no doubt at least some of her characters are based in some small part upon real people, or a combination of individuals she has known or met. To this Canadian reader I felt a connection to this far northern village through this book.

The story begins in 1971 when our heroine, Alison, comes from Liverpool, England to be a nurse in this remote location. After waiting for weather to clear she is on her way north in a small plane flown by a bush pilot, arriving in a village that looks completely alien to her.

The book is written as a diary by Alison, some pages devoted to the stories of the patients themselves, some to the families of patients. The stories are told in the voices of the characters.  Historical and accurate, this is the first book I have read of this particularly remote area and am very glad I did. This is a delightful read with the characters bringing us from the old ways via a grandfather talking to his critically ill daughter, and later to his grandchildren. The novel continues to update right through the creation of Nunavet, the newest of the northern Territories of Canada in 1999.

The "first hand" stories of the entire family of Nikmak, the grandfather, give the reader insight impossible to get without an actual non-fiction biographical work. When Alison marries into the family we really begin to see the changes as they occur in the lives of the Inuit. Using the true Inuktitut words in many cases adds to the authenticity of the book.  Although explained as the words are first used, there is also a glossary at the back of the book.

It is a tale of hardship, family, lifestyles old and new. The coming of electricity, skidoos, and finally television and computers, while still trying to maintain some tradition in their lives becomes more difficult as time goes on. Children in the old days were sent away to school, later they were able to be schooled in Rankin Inlet.  Many of the Inuit children are now able to go on to university in Manitoba and become a part of the evolution of the north while trying to protect the rights of the "people of the land". Alison's own sons and daughters become very active in the environment, the growth, and the government of Nunavet.

I would definitely recommend this book to any age group as a glimpse of the Arctic and its contribution to the development of this country, to the mix of ethnicities of Canada, and among the first peoples of Canada.  5/5 stars

Reviewed on 05/08/2010 by ReviewTheBook.com Member Betty Gelean

I love reading books that help me discover a new culture or country. Although I am Canadian, I felt I discovered for the first time part of my country with this novel set in Rankin Inlet in Nunavut, formerly the Northwest Territories. It’s the Canadian Arctic after all and very different from my own multi-cultural Montreal.

The story begins with Alison Clark, a young British woman who in 1970 leaves England to work as nurse-midwife in the remote village of Rankin Inlet. She experiences a sense of community belonging there and falls in love with the land and its people. It's a moving story of love and losses, changes and adaptations, ingrained beliefs and traditions.

The story is told through diary entries and correspondence of several of the characters, mainly Alison, as well as Ivaluk and Nikmak—both Inuit man. Through Ivaluk (Nikmak’s son) and his letters to his adopted kid brother Thomasie, we learn what the life of an Inuit is like, their joys, struggles, beliefs and customs. Through Nikmak, an Inuit elder, we get a true sense of the older generation and the changes and adaptations they experienced throughout the years into our modern era. Feeney also explores such topics as alcohol, inter-racial marriages, depression, and the influence of modern technology on a traditional people.

The beginning of the novel is a little confusing as Nikmak’s entries are initially seven months ahead of Alison’s and Ivaluk’s, but when theirs catch up to his, their stories intertwine beautifully. I feel the author truly grasped the voice of the Inuit people and brought them to life through the Inuktitut language and expressions. For example:
Snowflakes fat as ptarmigans are spinning down from the sky now. p.190
My legs feel as weak as a newborn tuktu calf. p.234
Nikmak’s entries would always end with a sing-song expression such as Aiyayayaaiieh and I could clearly hear in my mind his deep male voice singing.

As the story evolves and spans thirty years, we see the changes that take place among the Inuit people who went from hunt-gatherers to wageworkers. Positive political and cultural changes were brought about with the 1993 Land Claims Agreement Act that finally entitled Inuit with certain aboriginal rights. Because of this, the Inuit culture, beliefs and customs are now taught in Canadian schools so that I was somewhat familiar with some of the things I read in this novel, such as the food called bannock. My daughter came home with the recipe one day from her Social Studies class.

There are some sex scenes in this novel, but they are short and not explicit. One is described briefly but does not involve the main character.

Mara Feeney is a talented writer who has written a novel that kept my interest throughout, with believable, remarkable characters and a setting unlike any I have read before. I would certainly read another novel by this author.

Reviewed on 10/29/2009 by ReviewTheBook.com Member Laura Fabiani