Perhaps I would be too late to save them.
The last dozen had been spotted on a remote island in the North Atlantic, on a bare ledge of rock, but it was already rumoured the final breeding pair had been killed -- their skins sold to private collectors -- and the single egg between them needlessly crushed.
These were only rumours, I kept telling myself. But as I set out for the Liverpool docks, on that breezy April morning in 1845, I couldn't help hoping that I might be able to reach them in time, the last of the birds.
Description:
It is the most delightful of reading experiences to have a book give you a completely unexpected shock -- some twist in the plot, some unforeseen action by a character. Something that throws out all your smug little preconceived notions about how the book will continue, who is the good guy and who is the bad, and the eventual conclusion. Something that makes you stop, re-read the last paragraph, and then take a deep breath before continuing. The book has now been born again with new vistas opened and a clean or at least revised slate on all characters and plot.
Now the reading fun begins. It is suddenly all new. You can only settle in and wonder what will happen next.
Such a wonderful book is The Collector of Lost Things by Jeremy Page. I was so completely caught unaware three, yes three, different times in this book that I looked around the room to find someone, anyone, I could tell about this story and the unexpected turn of events that just had occurred. (Note: I'm working to keep my mouth shut until asked about books, but sometimes, like a great secret, the goods are just too juicy to keep to yourself.)
Set in 1845, the novel opens with Eliot Saxby embarking on a sailing ship bound for the Arctic. His mission is to discover whether any evidence of the Great Auks, an extinct flightless bird, might possibly exist. Hunted by collectors and museums for their skins and eggs, these birds only recently became extinct, with the last living bird discovered five years previously on a lonely island near the polar ice. That bird was strangled and its eggs crushed by fishermen who thought it was a sea-witch.
Saxby, a trained naturalist, harbors a secret hope that he might actually discover a living specimen on some forgotten island. While excited about the possibilities, he knows it is highly unlikely he will find anything, even a feather, much less a living bird.
There are two other passengers on board: Bletchley who wants to hunt arctic wildlife to prove his manhood, accompanied by his cousin Clara, a very sickly young woman who is embarking on the journey for unknown reasons.
Saxby immediately recognizes Clara as a woman from his past, but when he approaches her, she claims not to be the woman he thinks she is and to have no previous knowledge of Saxby. However, her secretive actions, her avoidance of questions, and her peculiar relationship with Bletchley all puzzle Saxby.
Each person has hidden motivations that make their words vague and even suspect for their truthfulness. Who can be relied on and who should be suspected of bad intentions and outright evil? Who can be loved and who should be carefully avoided? Aboard the small boat, all activities fall under constant scrutiny, changing these answers again and again. These twists of plot and individual behavior pull you onward.
At the ice fields, everything changes again. The desolation of the endless ice, the cold, and the isolation challenge each person, including the captain and his crew, in different ways. Events on the ice bring new revelations about each character, casting a new light on their actions and the events still to come.
And, boy, can Jeremy Page write! His words reflect a slight Victorian style of formality and attention to emotions and detail, but without overwhelming the plot. The descriptions of the ship and sailing are absolutely first rate.
Narrator Saxby, as a newcomer to sailing, ably describes the smells of the tar on the deck, the sounds of the sails catching the wind, and the shouts of the deckhands. From climbing up to the crow's nest to gazing over the bow to crouching in the hold where slaves were once transported, Saxby's observations and feelings are expressed with such clarity and emotion that a reader is completely absorbed into the world and population of the ship.
The Collector of Lost Things is a story of survival. Saxby feels he a person with the ability to save things, not just observe and collect them, and he dreams of finding and saving not only an Auk but also Clara who seems so sad and dominated by Bletchley. For after all, Saxby knows "a happy woman is a righted world."
And it is a story of ice, of cold, and of life. As Saxby relates:
This is a great book, one of the most captivating, encompassing, adventurous, and thoughtful novels I have read in years. I does not disappoint on any level. And remember - there are unexpected surprises awaiting!
Happy reading.
Now the reading fun begins. It is suddenly all new. You can only settle in and wonder what will happen next.
Such a wonderful book is The Collector of Lost Things by Jeremy Page. I was so completely caught unaware three, yes three, different times in this book that I looked around the room to find someone, anyone, I could tell about this story and the unexpected turn of events that just had occurred. (Note: I'm working to keep my mouth shut until asked about books, but sometimes, like a great secret, the goods are just too juicy to keep to yourself.)
Set in 1845, the novel opens with Eliot Saxby embarking on a sailing ship bound for the Arctic. His mission is to discover whether any evidence of the Great Auks, an extinct flightless bird, might possibly exist. Hunted by collectors and museums for their skins and eggs, these birds only recently became extinct, with the last living bird discovered five years previously on a lonely island near the polar ice. That bird was strangled and its eggs crushed by fishermen who thought it was a sea-witch.
Saxby, a trained naturalist, harbors a secret hope that he might actually discover a living specimen on some forgotten island. While excited about the possibilities, he knows it is highly unlikely he will find anything, even a feather, much less a living bird.
There are two other passengers on board: Bletchley who wants to hunt arctic wildlife to prove his manhood, accompanied by his cousin Clara, a very sickly young woman who is embarking on the journey for unknown reasons.
Saxby immediately recognizes Clara as a woman from his past, but when he approaches her, she claims not to be the woman he thinks she is and to have no previous knowledge of Saxby. However, her secretive actions, her avoidance of questions, and her peculiar relationship with Bletchley all puzzle Saxby.
Each person has hidden motivations that make their words vague and even suspect for their truthfulness. Who can be relied on and who should be suspected of bad intentions and outright evil? Who can be loved and who should be carefully avoided? Aboard the small boat, all activities fall under constant scrutiny, changing these answers again and again. These twists of plot and individual behavior pull you onward.
At the ice fields, everything changes again. The desolation of the endless ice, the cold, and the isolation challenge each person, including the captain and his crew, in different ways. Events on the ice bring new revelations about each character, casting a new light on their actions and the events still to come.
And, boy, can Jeremy Page write! His words reflect a slight Victorian style of formality and attention to emotions and detail, but without overwhelming the plot. The descriptions of the ship and sailing are absolutely first rate.
Narrator Saxby, as a newcomer to sailing, ably describes the smells of the tar on the deck, the sounds of the sails catching the wind, and the shouts of the deckhands. From climbing up to the crow's nest to gazing over the bow to crouching in the hold where slaves were once transported, Saxby's observations and feelings are expressed with such clarity and emotion that a reader is completely absorbed into the world and population of the ship.
- [from the crow's nest] I closed my eyes. Sounds I had heard on deck -- the eerie shrill wind or the low moaning I'd heard from my cabin at night, the soothing sighs of ropes and canvas, the release and hold of iron fixings, or the creak of the mast, stretching like the tree it once was -- these sounds surrounded me, explaining their origin.
- [Getting the Amethyst underway] The air collected across the sail's face, a hesitant caress, then gently eased forward. Suddenly it filled in one smooth intake of breath and snapped taut, as if punched by a giant fist. At the same moment I heard the ropes stretch, and along their lines I saw a mist of droplets being wrung from them.
The Collector of Lost Things is a story of survival. Saxby feels he a person with the ability to save things, not just observe and collect them, and he dreams of finding and saving not only an Auk but also Clara who seems so sad and dominated by Bletchley. For after all, Saxby knows "a happy woman is a righted world."
And it is a story of ice, of cold, and of life. As Saxby relates:
I felt the presence of ice itself. Frightening, moving unpredictably, spreading in brittle sheets across the ocean -- reaching out with living intent for the small pocket of warmth that is brought with each person who ventures to the Arctic. It is as though the ice searches for the glimmer of fire that burns in the hearths, and the pulse of warm blood that flows through our veins.
This is a great book, one of the most captivating, encompassing, adventurous, and thoughtful novels I have read in years. I does not disappoint on any level. And remember - there are unexpected surprises awaiting!
Happy reading.
If this book interests you, be sure to check out:
Lansing, Alfred. Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage
Absolutely riveting account of Earnest Shackleton's ill-fated 1914 voyage to Antarctica and subsequent cross-country race for survival across the South Pole. His boat and crew are locked in by ice and only through incredibly heroic measures can Shackleton and his men hope to live. Riveting!
Mowat, Farley. Never Cry Wolf: Amazing True Story of Life Among Arctic Wolves
Scientific but highly humorous notes from a naturalist studying the life and activities of the arctic wolf in northern Canada. Mowat is a tremendous observer of wildlife, willing to challenge accepted notions about these wolves in light of his first-hand experiences with them. Great read for all ages looking for fun, science, and wildlife behavior.
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