In her debut
novel Michelle Min Sterling show's the length people will go to in order to
survive:
Climate change around the world has made many parts of the United states uninhabitable but many believe that salvation lies farther into the Canadian north, where an American is building a new community of many secrets. Rose just wants a better life for herself and her mother and is willing to do what it takes to make that happen. When she is offered a job, as a Bloom, to spy on the leader of the builder of the Camp in exchange for her and her mother to be taken care of and given citizenship to the floating city, she knows she will take it. Grant is determined to flee his family and go somewhere where they will never be able to find him. When a job at a new remote community college offers him a job he knows this is his out. What he finds is that the collage is no even close to being completed and he is there to teach the Canadian workers instead. Is this life in the North that holds the future to human survival? Only time will tell, but even new towns have secrets.
I wasn’t 100% sure going into this book, I was on the fence based on the premise whether I would enjoy it or not, as I found it a bit vague. For a debut novel I think that Sterling really captured something here. I enjoyed her perspective of where the world is going and while a lot of it is doom and gloom there are those points of hope, especially around White Alice and their ability to survive. This book had points where it was character driven and plot driven, and I found this aspect changed throughout the book. I did not mind this as it kept the story moving forward but I think it did slow the overall pace of the book.
Some may critique the in-your-face aspects about this book about climate change, but i think it is just a point we all need to get behind. Yes, the planet is changing but at what rate, scientist differ in this aspect, but I think we can all say that the planet and climate is changing. I have also read reviews that this is a climate feminism book that men suck and created all the climate problem, all I can say to those is get over yourself. There is a male main character in the book who is trying to escape but also do better (sorry small rant over).
I was able to figure out how Sterling was going to bring the three storylines together, but I still enjoyed the ride to get there. There were some aspects at the end where Sterling didn’t take the easy way out and it did becomes a question of who is going to survive, which I appreciated. Sterling also left the book a little open ended, and I would be interested in seeing if Sterling chose to continue the story even in a novella aspect.
Everything really does come
down to sex but in more than one way. Sex for pleasure, sex for control, sex
for power, sex to create life, but you cannot read this book and not realize
that this is a main theme of it as well. Now while it may be a main theme
Sterling does not go into any detail, so if you are looking for something
spicy, this is not here.
As wildfire are burning all
across Canada right now, I think that shows that Sterling is pretty on point on
her description of what could come and those needing to flee farther and
farther north to escape the changes in weather to try and find some semblance
of habitable environment.
Just like Draft dodgers for the
Vietnam War, more and more American want to move farther North into Canada
where the land is more habitable and still has seasons other than Hot and
Hotter. So, they start to buy up what land they can. I think this is a very
real prospect not only for habitable land but water as well. Canada has the
most freshwater lakes in the world. I will say if the US became desperate
enough to need the resources/land of Canada they would probably just Take It.
It would be more than the White Alice Mission they would just walk across the border
and claim Canada, as really what is Canada going to do, they don’t have any
military to stop them.
Dominion Lake is a real place but
it in British Columbia not in Alberta so I was confused when it was referred to
as "Wild Rose County" which is something that is very Albertian.
I enjoyed this book and the perspectives
that Sterling presented. Even though the book was slow at times I wanted to see
what would happen and how Sterling would bring it all together. I would read
another book by Sterling whether she decides to continue this story or craft
something new.
Enjoy!!!
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