Ian McGuire White River Crossing

Annotation

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, White River Crossing 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‘McGuire can construct an enthralling narrative, while sensitively handling the upheavals caused by colonial arrogance and overreach. His characterization can also be masterly.