By: Charlotte Gray

It is always a delight to read Charlotte Gray. In her book Gold Diggers, she has cut through the romance and mythology of the Klondike gold-rush giving the reader clear, well spoken accounts of the people and events. It is ultimately more interesting and more realistic that way.

Such larger-than-life characters as Jack London, Sam Steel, Father Judge and Belinda Mulroney seem very human and are affected by events as much as they effected them. Add to that, accounts of a few of the gold miners and the problems of such a rapid population growth in a harsh environment and you’re left with a sense of what it may have been like to have actually have been there.

Gray pays homage to the continued appeal of the Klondike Gold Rush by mentioning other great accounts like that written by Pierre Berton. She also doesn’t forget to mention the horrible tole it took on both the indigenous Han and Tagish people and their environment. Gold Diggers is a welcome addition to the subject of the Klondike Gold Rush and to North American history.

By: Jane Urquhart

This was Jane Urquhart’s first novel and in keeping with her style it is a somewhat somber look into the life of a women who’s grasp on reality is a little off. There are similarities with her more recent novel, Away, in that respect.

The setting is Niagara Falls, Ontario about 70 years after the war of 1812. Urquhart has excellently captured the Canadian point of view regarding the war and our indifference to our own history which is lamented by the main character’s husband, a military historian. It is an excellent period piece providing insight into this storied region of Canada and Urquhart provides an admiration for the Great Lakes region which is quite rare to find.

The Whirlpool is literally the Whirlpool Rapids just downstream from Niagara Falls and figuratively the central theme of the story. Even when not mentioned, you can still feel its presence not far away, churning with silent power. It directly affects the lives of the young men who seek to challenge it with boats or by swimming it, and of the main character who is captivated by it. There is also an emotionally fragile young poet who is staying with his uncle that succumbs to the woman’s charms and her infatuation with the Whirlpool. Urquhart is fond of poetry and she has beautifully woven a poetic theme throughout this novel.

For me the best part about reading The Whirlpool was to feel better connected to home.