BOOK REVIEW: The Curve of Time by M. Wylie Blanchett
The Curve of Time Book Cover
This book came to me completely randomly. My spouse lost an aunt who lived in Seattle and when she was out there for the funeral, someone gave her the book. That was about a year and half ago. It sat and sat on our bookshelf. We recently moved from Washington, DC to Houston and somehow the book got put with some of my stuff. I picked it up not knowing anything about it or how we ever acquired the book.
The Curve of Time by M. Wylie Blanchett is a book about spending the summers on a 25 power boat cruising around Vancouver Island and all the inlets. I've always been interested in small boats and have dreamed of just selling everything, buying a sailboat and letting the wind take me where it must. I've been talked out of it numerous times by family and friends. I was close to doing it (as a means to get from Washington, DC to Houston) this time, but later backed down from advice from nearly everyone!
It's sort of hard to find, but is sold on Amazon.
This is a biography and astonishing adventure story of a woman who, left a widow in 1927, packed her five children onto a 25-foot boat and cruised the coastal waters of British Columbia, summer after summer.Muriel Wylie Blanchet acted single-handedly as skipper, navigator, engineer and, of course, mum, as she saw her crew through encounters with tides, fog, storms, rapids, cougars and bears. She sharpened in her children a special interest in Haida culture and in nature itself. In this book, she left us with a sensitive and compelling account of their journeys.
So what a great book, and perfect timing, for me to at least follow someone else's adventures. What's even better is the book was written firsthand and took place in the 1920's. When life and boating must have been extremely simple (and very exciting). There are a lot of firsthand experiences with the Native American in the region and a lot of geography and history as well!
The book is a collection of short stories and adventures sort of hodge podged together. However, it's quite well organized. The narrator and author died over 40 years ago, and her estate organized the book for sale.
I strongly recommend the book to anyone who is interested in wilderness, sailing, boating, the Pacific Northwest, Vancouver history or the like! Once I opened the book, it was a quick read, quickly familiarizing yourself with the family you're about to follow and the layout of Vancouver and it's inlets and islands.
So go out and get the book!
Comments
Hi, sounds really interesting, I will have to check it out, cheers nell
- AUTHOR
Yeah, I know how you feel. However, I worked as an auditor for inheritance tax for a few years and I've gotten so used to reading documents and such of dead people, I don't even give it a second thought. I guess I was desensitized.
Have you read this book? You feel almost like you're there. She has a beautiful way of writing!
I feel so sad when I realize that an author I've just enjoyed for the first time died before I knew they existed.
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