Latitudes of Melt [Paperback]

Joan Clark (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 2003

In the year 1912, a fisherman discovers an infant adrift on an ice floe in the North Atlantic. Back in the Newfoundland village of Drook she's considered a changeling, with her white hair and eyes of different colors. Her very survival shows that her life is charmed. Named Aurora, after the dawn of her rescue from the sea, she exhibits a singular nature as she grows to womanhood amid the austere beauty of the Newfoundland coast. She marries and has two children, but it is only after they are grown, and she is an old woman, that the mystery of Aurora's origins is solved.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this meandering tale of an extraordinary woman's life, Clark (Eriksdottir; Swimming Toward the Light) strives to give everyday existence a magical aura, with mixed results. The novel opens with a fantastic conceit: a baby in a basket on a piece of ice survives the sinking of the Titanic and is discovered by a kindly Newfoundland fisherman, Francis St. Croix. He dubs her Aurora because she is found "in a gleaming dawn," and she becomes part of the St. Croix family. Aurora is a delightfully quirky child, who seems to embody the unusual circumstances of her incredible journey. She has white hair, is never cold, gambols barefoot where others hesitate to tread, loves nature and has a special affinity for animals. The small community in the valley of the Drook, where the St. Croix family lives, looks upon her as of another world. Even Tom Mulloy, the man she comes to marry, sees her as "a fairy maid." The book shifts from Aurora's story to that of her children: Nancy, a headstrong woman who wants to be everything her mother isn't, and Stanley, a late bloomer who overcomes personal tragedy and retains his mother's passion for exploration, becoming a deep-sea-diving expert on ice. It is Nancy's daughter, Sheila, who unravels Aurora's mysterious past and links her to a family that set out on the Titanic for a new life in America. Clark captures the stark magnificence of Newfoundland and portrays a changing world as technology and civilization make indelible marks on a fading seafaring era. Labored prose and overdetailed storytelling weigh down the tale, but Aurora's story will please those with an interest in northerly lands and Titanic mythmaking.

Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

One morning in 1912, Newfoundland fisherman Francis St. Croix finds a baby floating on a chunk of ice. When no one claims her, he takes her as his own and names her Aurora. Her mysterious origins plus her white hair and her eyes, one blue and one brown make people suspicious. But as the years pass she gains acceptance, marries lighthouse keeper Tom, and has two children whose lives reflect the social, cultural, and political developments in Newfoundland. Daughter Nancy leaves home for the city of St. John and has an affair with one of her instructors that results in a child and then marriage, and son Stan becomes a scientist studying ice. It is Nancy's daughter who finally solves the mystery of Aurora's heritage. Clark (Victory of Geraldine Gull) weaves Newfoundland traditions, shipwrecks, and the barren, ice-covered landscape into the ebb and flow of the lives of her characters as they experience the Depression, war, and the Sixties to create a story of an outsider's gradual acceptance of and by a community. Recommended. Joshua Cohen, Mid-Hudson Lib. Syst., Poughkeepsie, NY

Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 295 pages
• Publisher: Soho Press (July 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1569473188
• ISBN-13: 978-1569473184
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,149,813 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful book full of magic, January 14, 2003

By 

Booknut "Booknut" (St. Albert, AB) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Latitudes of Melt (Paperback)

This was a beautiful book that portrayed a very complex character. Aurora is found as a baby wrapped in a basket covered by a rubber sheet tied to an upturned chair which is floating on an ice slab in the Artic Ocean off the coast of Newfoundland. It is only a few days after the Titanic disaster but nobody is looking for this baby and from the beginning everything about her seems unusual. She has pale skin and almost white hair and she always feels cool. She likes to wander by herself and she has a very unusual connection with animals which leads the locals to think that maybe she was left by faeries. I think I liked this book because although it paints this very ethereal picture of Aurora as a baby and as a child she has a very human marriage and a complex relationship with her children that is portrayed in a believable way. You do not always like Aurora's decisions and the book has its share of heartbreak but I guarantee you will feel you've encountered a genuine and unique story that will stay with you long after you've finished the book.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars beautiful, involving saga, April 3, 2002

By 

"cathst" (Toronto, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Latitudes of Melt (Hardcover)

This is a beautifully-written book, providing a strong setting and feeling of Newfoundland, where it is mainly set. The timeline of the book follows the same as the life of Aurora, an ethereal spirit who was discovered as a baby floating on an ice slab in middle of the Atlantic ocean, her birthplace and story up until that point a mystery to all. From that point on, we come to know her, the members of her complex but very human family, and ultimately, to feel a part of the family and land. Highly recommended.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Made Me Want to Book a Ticket to Newfoundland, July 20, 2011

By 

Wandering Hoosier "dog lover" (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Latitudes of Melt (Paperback)

I knew very little about Newfoundland before reading this book, and now I cannot wait to visit the Canadian province. The book begins with a baby, Aurora, being found at sea. She was found by Francis, a Newfoundland native, and brought to a small fishing town, Drook. Francis and his wife placed notices in major newspapers about their locating an infant with one brown eye and one blue eye, but nobody answered the advertisement. As a result, Francis and Merla raised Aurora as their own.

Aurora grew up in a small fishing town and went to school when the weather permitted. She excelled in her classes but did not seem to have the inclination to leave Drook. One day, while picking berries, she met Tom, her future husband. Tom and Aurora marry and have two children, Nancy and Stan. The story then follows Nancy's affair with her teacher, and Stan's first marriage. We also learn about Aurora's birth and how she ended up in a cradle on an ice pan. The book ends with a glimpse of the later years of Aurora's life.

Joan Clark does a beautiful job writing about Newfoundland's landscape and history. I enjoyed learning about the origination of Newfoundland as a Canadian province and the stories of the Titanic passengers. I also enjoyed reading about the life of fishermen, the hardships in rural Canada, and the hapiness that can be found in "simple" lives. Clark, however, spends more time discussing the beauty of Newfoundland and the sea than moving along the storyline. As a result, the book, at times, can move slowly. However, I still highly recommend the book for a relaxing way to spend time learning about Newfoundland and reading about the lives of a seemingly simple, yet interesting, family.