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White River Crossing

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About this listen

 A breathtaking and cinematic novel about the lust for gold and its bloody consequences, set in the unforgiving landscape of the sub-Arctic Canadian wilderness, from the acclaimed author of The North Water

‘Like The North Water, with which it shares much DNA, WhiteRiverCrossing moves at a propulsive lick, its bloody meat marbled with cruelty and violence. McGuire does not let us look away: the clumsy amputation of a gangrenous arm is described in almost voluptuous detail, while the desolate beauty of the vast landscape is summoned with a sharp precision’ Guardian

A ragged fur peddler arrives at a remote outpost of the Hudson Bay Company in the winter of 1766 with a lump of gold, claiming that there is plenty more like it further north at a place called Ox Lake. The outpost’s chief factor, Magnus Norton, dreams of instant riches and launches a secret and perilous expedition to find the treasure and bring it back.

Led by a family of native guides, the party of prospectors includes Norton’s brutish deputy, John Shaw, and Thomas Hearn, the insular and intellectual first mate from the factory’s whaling sloop. During their long journey north, Shaw’s callousness and arrogance lead him to commit an act of sexual violence whose disastrous consequences will only fully emerge once they reach their final destination. There, amidst the bleak beauty of the Barren Grounds, as Norton’s carefully crafted plans begin to fall apart and the brutal arctic winter starts to descend, Hearn is forced to make a choice that will define his character and determine his future forever.

Utterly captivating, White River Crossing transports us back to the furthest edges of the eighteenth-century British empire where two radically different worlds—indigenous and European—collide with calamitous and deadly results.

 Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction World Literature
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I’ve just finished White River Crossing by Ian McGuire — and this is a strong four-star listen for me.

Set in the 1760s at a remote Hudson Bay Company outpost, the novel begins with the arrival of a peddler carrying something more dangerous than goods: information. He possesses a rock shot through with veins of gold, and what he wants to trade is not the gold itself but its location. That whisper of wealth is enough to set events in motion.

Magnus Norton, the chief of the outpost, dispatches a small expedition north into the frozen Barren Grounds. His deputy John Shaw, the younger Abel Walker and the steady Thomas Hearn must travel with Indigenous guides towards Inuit territory in search of riches. What begins as a quest narrative slowly deepens into something far more complex and unsettling.

McGuire’s great strength is atmosphere. You genuinely feel the cold, the wind and the physical exposure. The landscape is not simply described — it presses in on you. It shapes behaviour. It tests endurance. The men are not just battling distance and hunger, but each other. Pride, ambition and fear simmer constantly beneath the surface.

What elevates the novel is that it refuses to frame this purely as a European adventure. The Indigenous guides and Inuit communities are not background figures; they are fully realised participants with their own beliefs, survival strategies and understanding of the land. For the Europeans, gold represents transformation and legacy. For the Indigenous and Inuit peoples, gold is meaningless. Survival, continuity and respect for the land matter far more. That tension sits at the heart of the story.

Listening on Audible adds another dimension. Dugald Bruce Lockhart’s narration is excellent. He captures the restraint, authority and simmering unease of the characters without overplaying it. His delivery enhances the starkness of the landscape and the moral ambiguity of the expedition. It’s measured, immersive and perfectly suited to the tone of the novel.

This is a harsh, atmospheric and thought-provoking story about greed, survival and cultural collision in an unforgiving environment. It’s not an easy listen — nor should it be — but it is a rewarding one.

A strong four out of five stars from me.

A stark, immersive tale of ambition and endurance set against a landscape as unforgiving as the men who attempt to conquer it.

White River Crossing: Gold and Survival

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