The Seal Wife

Kathryn Harrison, author of "The Kiss" and "The Binding Chair," underscores her reputation as a writer of compelling fiction with this tale of passion and obsession on the desolate Alaskan frontier. It is 1915 when Bigelow, a young scientist, is dispatched to build a weather observatory in Anchorage. He is optimistic and enthusiastic, little realizing what life will be like in an arctic railroad town peopled by men and precious few women. The nights are endless and lonely. Before long he is held sway by a seemingly unknowable woman, Aleut. She is not his only obsession - he designs a kite intended to fly higher than any kite has ever flown. Harrison's recreation of an icy landscape in all its beauty and danger is spectacular. - Gail Cooke

There's always a feeling of discomfort when reading a Kathryn Harrison book and "The Seal Wife" is no exception. It's set in Alaska in 1915, where winters are long and cold, mosquitoes are plentiful, and there are very few women. And so when Bigelow Greene, age 26, is sent there by the government to set up a weather station in Anchorage, he is lonely and disoriented. There's startling beauty here and a sense of isolation. Bigelow yearns for a woman and soon begins a relationship with a native woman he knows only as "The Aleut". He's completely obsessed with her, and adores her strength, her unpretentious sensuality and complete self-possession. The writing itself is sensual too; from the descriptions of how the woman butchers animals, to the erotic details of their coupling. The fact that she never speaks only adds to his passion for her. When she moves away, he is devastated. Much of the book details this period of his isolation, in which he plunges himself into his work, building a unique kite which holds instruments and carefully measures the weather conditions. His need for a woman is overwhelming though and the reader feels his pain and isolation as he attempts to satisfy his raging feelings. Eventually, he connects with another women, who is also mute. Her other characteristics disgust him however. How this all plays out is fascinating and forced me to continue reading this spare 256-page book all the way through in a very short time.The reader gets to know Bigelow intimately. I felt I was right there with him as he struggled to understand the weather, the landscape and his own emotional needs. There's a constant feeling of isolation and a metaphorical statement about the human condition. It's fascinating. And even though I've come to expect different and innovative settings for Ms. Harrison's novels, this one is unique in focusing entirely on one character's point of view. The result is an unsettling portrait of loneliness and alienation. Naturally I expected an unhappy conclusion. I was wrong. It was a pleasure to be smiling wistfully as I turned the last page.

What more is there to say? As I read it, I forgot a person had created it. The events and characters are so real. I'm having difficulty putting my feelings about this book into words. It's as if the book existed without an author; her presence is nowhere felt, but everything that happens in the book is intensely true. I was particularly touched by the ending. I enjoyed Harrison's book "The Binding Chair," too, but it was more realistic and more obviously "written." This one seems dreamed.

Kathryn Harrison's THE SEAL WIFE is far and away her finest work, and one of the finest works of fiction published this year. Written in a very spare style, Harrison doesn't waste a word, a paragraph or a chapter in telling this story of a US government scientist sent to the wilds of Alaska in 1915. Bigelow's assignment is to map the weather patterns of the area, where railroads and infrastructure are to be built, extracting the riches of gold, furs and other precious commodities. Bigelow embarks upon an ambitious quest to construct the biggest kite known, which will aid him in understanding the changeable nature of the region's weather. The kite itself becomes a metaphor for a man's quest for unattainable love, his desire to conquer nature, and the consequences of reaching too far outside one's known experiences in life. Bigelow has three relationships through the course of the story: one with the kite, which consumes not only his intellect and emotions, but great periods of his time every day; a physical and strangely emotionally distant relationship with an Aleut woman whose name and background he never knows fully. Thirdly, he has another physical and highly emotional liaison with a young woman who communicates only through song. Harrison's descriptions of the Alaskan frontier with all its vastness, great white blankets of snow and ice, and the long stretches of light and darkness bring the reader into Bigelow's setting like no other novel I can remember. THE SEAL WIFE is the finest example of the novelist's craft! I would really, really like to see her write into a screenplay. This is a story of great drama veiled by the whiteness of Alaska, and the loneliness of a man's soul. Beautifully done, Kathryn Harrison!!

In this sparce but richly woven tale of ALASKA circa 1915, KATHRYN HARRISON not only gives us history but looks right into obsession, hard work and motivation to achieve, erotic desire and fulfillment, loneliness, treachery, pain, friendship, loss, recovery --- all the things that give life meaning. Brilliantly told yet easily accessible, HARRISON wastes not one word of her short novel. It's no secret that critics loathe HARRISON, perhaps personal reasons, I don't know or care. But for us just-love-a-good-read buyers, she's TOP OF THE LINE.