Northern Edge [Hardcover]

Barbara Quick (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This promising but uneven first novel makes a feeble start in the adolescent musings of educated but lazy Tay MacElroy, who impulsively accepts a summer clerical position in Alaska, only to find the job unavailable when she arrives. Handsome biologist Mike Gavin, hired by the company to do a seabird census for an environmental impact study, promptly beds Tay to lure her into becoming a field assistant at their remote camp. She meets the rest of the team during a hurried departure--grumpy biologist Strider, supply pilot Bill, and Phoebe Gavin, Mike's wife and Tay's only female companion for the next eight weeks. In the rugged isolation of the camp, Tay has a lot of growing up to do, including overcoming excessive adulation of Phoebe and a tendency to categorize men. Quick finds a surer voice as she allows Tay to relax into the rhythms of the wilderness. Phoebe and Tay develop a unique, and eventually real, relationship that is the strongest component of the story.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Tay McElroy, a modern young woman, mildly successful in what has become a dull academic environment, suddenly leaves it behind for an ecological jaunt to Alaska. For three fourths of her first novel, Quick's story reads more like a journal, but that's okay. It is based on a diary she kept during a summer spent in Alaska. There are a few stock plot devices in the beginning, with growing tension toward the end when a sinister drifter menaces two women trapped in a raging storm, but the real story lies in the lovely, colorful descriptions of natural beauty and Alaskan wildlife, especially the birds, and in the everyday trials of surviving a far northern summer with no modern comforts or conveniences. A first novel for selective fiction collections.
- Marion Hanscom, SUNY at Binghamton Lib.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Random House Value Publishing (July 28, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0517074842
• ISBN-13: 978-0517074848
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,563,873 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I wouldn't trade my job as a novelist for any other job in the world. Writing is a refuge for me--a secret garden, a doorway into other lives, an occasion for expanding on the truth and getting paid for it (once every couple of years, at least).

One life has never seemed like enough to me (maybe because I'm a Gemini?). Short of immortality or schizophrenia, fiction seemed to me to be the closest I could get to experiencing many lives from the inside-out.

My books have also brought me into contact with people from all over the world I would never have met otherwise (including, most lately, my fiance!). I can only hope that readers will begin to understand how important they are to writers--and to literature itself! Buying books is an act of cultural affirmation. Literature--and writers--will perish without readers who are committed to buying, reading, and talking about books.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fabulous evocation of both the Arctic & female camaraderie, December 24, 1999

By 

C. Gralla-Spada "Author and academic" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Northern Edge: A Novel of Survival in Alaska's Arctic (Paperback)

Barbara Quick's novel draws you in with its promise of an adventure story set in the harsh Arctic wilderness, and this it certainly delivers, with marvelous descriptions of hard-won survival in the stark and surreally beautiful Alaskan tundra. But it is much more than a high adventure tale in the Jack London tradition: tucked within Quick's page-turning episodes of deadly storms, hungry bears, and fatal river crossings is one of the most memorable evocations of female friendships you will ever read. Add to this her many haunting images, such as birds taking their first flights and white-night sunsets, and you have a book that will hasten your reading to the end but remain in your mind for a long time afterwards.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Almost succeeds wildly, April 24, 2005

By 

s. nicholas "skim" (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Northern Edge (Hardcover)

I've always dreamed of picking up and moving to Alaska so my enjoyment of the book was partly living vicariously. There are moments where this book truly succeeds in becoming utterly absorbing and original. Quick is obviously a very good writer who can convey the environment well--even a foreign environment like the desolate outskirts of Alaska. Where the book has trouble in it's tale of a lady who leaves a non-challenging administrative job to move to Alaska and unexpectely finds herself in a field position, is that the book doesn't seem to know whether it is a soap opera or an woman/nature adventure book. It swings wildly from one to the other without committing itself enough on either. However, it was still a very enjoyable read. It just left me wishing it was twice as long so that both storylines would be better developed.

5.0 out of 5 stars Grab some tea and curl up...won't put it down!, February 2, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Northern Edge: A Novel of Survival in Alaska's Arctic (Paperback)

Whew! A real testament to the ability of women to see themselves in a different light when they courageously attempt new adventures. I know this book is out of print but anyone who is interested in good reading should try to track this book down for their library! Guess you could call and beg from the publisher? Superb writing...Barbara's talent holds you to every page. Talk about your surprise endings! Makes you feel good to be female and cultivate any bit of bravery you might have hidden under your curled and sprayed hair. Puts a perspective back into your ironing...enjoyed this so much I would recommend it very highly! Makes you want to take a trip where you don't have to worry if your makeup is smudged. Waiting for the sequel...where does Tay go from there?