Monday review - Late Nights on Air

I've been a fan of Elizabeth Hay's writing since A Student of Weather, which I loved. I'm a long way behind in reading Late Nights on Air - I was (as I often do with books I know I'm really going to enjoy) keeping it for a special occasion, for a time when I'd be able to read it - if not in one sitting, then over a short period of time without interruptions.

And I'm so glad I did.

Because I fell into this book and didn't want to get out.

I live in Vancouver and we live on the edge of the wilderness here. People get lost and die hiking in the mountains 20 minutes from my home. People get in kayaks or on sailboats 10 minutes from my home and sometimes don't return because they've got caught in a storm. Cats and small dogs get eaten by coyotes; skunks wander into stores and restaurants; people get bitten by raccoons; bald eagles and herons fly overhead; seals and the very occasional whale swim right past highrises on False Creek.

But the way Elizabeth Hay describes the real wilderness enchants me, frightens me, enlightens me. It's such a Canadian book (because it takes place during the year Thomas Berger was heading the commission about the northern pipeline and it's about radio - CBC Radio) and, at the same time, so universal. It deals with one of the great themes of literature: man (and woman) against nature. There are love stories and mysteries. There are births and deaths. It deals with relationships - and how one copes in the wilderness.

This is a book that's staying on my shelf because for sure I'm going to read it again - probably next time in the depths of winter.

Kate