Seal Wife [Paperback]

Kathryn Harrison (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2, 2003

From the author of the bestselling THE BINDING CHAIR comes an extraordinary tale of desire set in the snowfields of 1917 Alaska. Bigelow is a scientist, meticulous and obsessive, a man of tightly coiled passion. Stationed in the tiny frontier town of Anchorage, Alaska in 1915, he builds a weather observatory, a kite big enough to penetrate the heavens, carrying instruments to track the great storms that scour the land. He is distracted from his labours when he meets a native Aleut woman, a stitcher of furs, whose muteness calls up in him an almost unbearable longing. Her ferocious self-containment begins to seem to him more and more animal -- and yet the more her silence pushes him away he burns to possess her. And when she disappears, he begins to believe he'll die if he never sees her again! An incendiary tale set against the sear and haunting landscape of the Great North, THE SEAL WIFE merges the enchantment of myth with a taut and chilling story of erotic compulsion.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for THE BINDING CHAIR: 'A spellbinding novel, ruthless, moving and utterly without sentiment.' Mail on Sunday 'The Binding Chair is a disturbing, beautifully plotted novel, intricate in its detail and panoramic in its sweep. It presents us with a world in which tragedy is natural and everyday, where beauty is a reminder of cruelty.' Daily Telegraph 'Harrison's mesmeric voice compels the reader towards the inevitable climax. The Binding Chair is a beautiful account of the lives of two very different women and the difficulties they face in their quest for independence.' Observer 'A vivid family saga. The characters come alive on the page. Harrison has convincingly captured the Shanghai of the early twentieth-century, a jarring, cacophonous, swarming city of possibility.' Evening Standard Praise for A THOUSAND ORANGE TREES: 'A magical novel' Lisa Tuttle, Time Out 'Audacious feats of the imagination. This rich and complex novel is both harrowing and compelling.' Nicola Humble, TLS 'A rich deep well of stories as fantastic as dreams.' Anne Chisholm, Observer 'Seductive, earthy, shocking and emotional.' Woman's Journal On Harrison's first memoir, THE KISS: 'One of the most startling books you are ever likely to read.' Gill Hornby, Observer 'I couldn't stop reading this. I'll never stop remembering it.' Mary Karr, author of The Liar's Club 'An unforgettable tale, a work of searing honesty, of immaculate literature.' Kate Figes, Independent on Sunday 'Remarkable for its candour, but also for its elegance, its sense of morality and its generosity of spirit.' Eliza Charlton, Sunday Telegraph 'Harrison writes like an angel.' Penny Perrick, The Times 'Remarkably moving.' Penelope Mortimer, Daily Telegraph 'Heartfelt, extraordinary ! This is a book that, once read, refuses to go away.' Marie Claire

About the Author

Kathryn Harrison is a graduate of Stanford University and of the Iowa Writers' Workshop. Her first novel, Thicker than Water, was a New York Times Notable Book, as was her second, Exposure. Her most recent novel is A Thousand Orange Trees. She is also the author of The Kiss which received critical acclaim, and Seeking Rapture. She lives in New York City with her husband, the writer Colin Harrison and their children.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Harpercollins Pb (June 2, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1841157805
• ISBN-13: 978-1841157801
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,853,099 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Author Photo by Joyce Ravid.

Kathryn Harrison was born in 1961 in Los Angeles, California, where she was raised by her mother's parents. She is a graduate of Stanford University and the Iowa Writers Workshop, where, in 1986, she met her husband, the novelist Colin Harrison. They had a first date on Friday, April 25, and on Monday, April 28, they moved in together. The Harrisons married in 1988, and live in Brooklyn with their three children. Kathryn writes novels, memoirs, personal essays, biography, and true crime. She is a frequent reviewer for the New York Times Book Review, and teaches memoir at Hunter College's MFA program in Creative Writing, in New York City.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars passion and obsession on a desolate frontier, December 23, 2006

By 

Gail Cooke (TX, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Seal Wife (Paperback)

Kathryn Harrison, author of "The Kiss" and "The Binding Chair," underscores her reputation as a writer of compelling fiction with this tale of passion and obsession on the desolate Alaskan frontier.

It is 1915 when Bigelow, a young scientist, is dispatched to build a weather observatory in Anchorage. He is optimistic and enthusiastic, little realizing what life will be like in an arctic railroad town peopled by men and precious few women. The nights are endless and lonely.

Before long he is held sway by a seemingly unknowable woman, Aleut. She is not his only obsession - he designs a kite intended to fly higher than any kite has ever flown.

Harrison's recreation of an icy landscape in all its beauty and danger is spectacular.

- Gail Cooke