White River Crossing
A Novel
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White River Crossing
Narrated by:
Dugald Bruce Lockhart
Pre-order Now for £18.39
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Narrated by:
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Dugald Bruce Lockhart
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By:
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Ian McGuire
About this listen
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.
Critic reviews
“A staggering portrait . . . brought to vivid life by the author’s keen talent for storytelling and willingness to depict the depths of human cruelty . . . The story’s ending is a shock, as McGuire explores in the final twist how hope and honor can be liabilities in a world of temptation, treachery, and retribution. It’s a stunner.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review
“A fast-paced, elegantly written adventure novel about the moral and physical perils of gold lust . . . McGuire inhabits a wide variety of characters here, moving impressively among points of view, between historical sources and his own imaginings, between the literary-psychological mode and old-fashioned adventure yarn. [He] nimbly combines historical narrative and high suspense.”—Kirkus Reviews
“McGuire brilliantly portrays the vicissitudes of human nature as pride and greed lead to treachery, jealousy, and deceit, weaving a trenchant tale of man’s inhumanity to man. The prose is both poetic and visceral, while the descriptions of the land and traditions are rich in period detail. A resplendent and masterful tale.”—Booklist, starred review
“A fast-paced, elegantly written adventure novel about the moral and physical perils of gold lust . . . McGuire inhabits a wide variety of characters here, moving impressively among points of view, between historical sources and his own imaginings, between the literary-psychological mode and old-fashioned adventure yarn. [He] nimbly combines historical narrative and high suspense.”—Kirkus Reviews
“McGuire brilliantly portrays the vicissitudes of human nature as pride and greed lead to treachery, jealousy, and deceit, weaving a trenchant tale of man’s inhumanity to man. The prose is both poetic and visceral, while the descriptions of the land and traditions are rich in period detail. A resplendent and masterful tale.”—Booklist, starred review
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