Customer Reviews

Latitudes of Melt

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

An excellent story about life and love -- and more importantly love lost in Newfoundland. An excellent read