The Last Whaler

Overview

THE LAST WHALER is an elegiac meditation on the will to survive under extreme conditions. Tor, a beluga whaler, and his wife, Astrid, a botanist specializing in Arctic flora, are stranded during the dark season of 1937-38 at his remote whaling station when they misjudge ice conditions and fail to rendezvous with the ship meant to carry them back to their home in southern Norway. Beyond enduring the Arctic winter’s twenty-four-hour night, the couple must cope with the dangers of polar bears, violent storms, and bitter cold as well as Astrid’s unexpected pregnancy. THE LAST WHALER concerns the impact of humans on pristine environments, the isolation of mental illness, the sustenance of religious faith, and the solace of storytelling.

Reviews

"A dramatic tale of survival at a frigid whaling station in 1937 Norway....This emotionally rich historical will keep readers turning the pages" — Publishers Weekly Review

Cynthia Reeves’s THE LAST WHALER is an accomplished and magnificent debut. Meticulously researched and fully imagined, it is the story of a couple’s sojourn at an Artic whaling station in the late nineteen thirties. Told in two distinct and vibrant voices through letters that dramatize daily threats and accomplishments, it is a gripping tale about a marriage under extreme stress as a man and woman, already grieving for a lost child, separately find their peace in inhospitable conditions. ~Megan Staffel, author of THE CAUSATIVE FACTOR, THE EXIT COACH, and LESSONS IN ANOTHER LANGUAGE

Author Biography

A writer and poet for almost thirty years, Cynthia Reeves was honored with Miami University Press’s novella prize, residencies at Hawthornden Castle, Vermont Studio Center, Galleri Svalbard, and the 2017 Arctic Circle Summer Solstice Expedition. She is the author of BADLANDS (2007).