BOOK REVIEW
The Outlander Gil Adamson (House of Anansi Press)
BILL MACPHERSON So you might wonder − what’s a
review of a book by a woman with a widow as the central character doing in a magazine whose readers are predominantly male? A fair question − but trust
me, The Outlander is a gripping page-turner. Set in the wilds of the Canadian West at the turn of the last century, it’s historical fiction of the highest order, beautifully written with impeccable timing throughout; suspenseful, compelling and exciting right to the end. The heroine, Mary Boulton
(mostly referred to as “the widow”) is young, just 19, quite likely unhinged and a murderess to boot. She’s being pursued by the vengeful brothers of her late husband, shot in the thigh and left to die by Mary herself. Desperate and alone by her own
making, Mary is in turn sheltered by a compassionate recluse, rescued from starvation and sure death by a mountain man, saved by natives after his sudden, unexpected departure and guided to a benefactor and eventual friends.
The twin brothers-in-law stalk
her with grim determination. They are “red-headed with rifles across their backs. Large men, identical in every way, standing close by each other, not speaking. Each with huge chest and arms…[though] the pallor of their faces, the close trim of their beards belied any suggestion of work…they wore fine black boots.” She is a harried fugitive, guilt-
stricken and haunted by visions, but also possessed of a strong will to escape and live a new life as she flees her unrelenting pursuers. The story is her odyssey: from
an unhappy marriage living in a remote prairie cabin with a distant, older, unfaithful husband, into the wilderness and back to civilization − such as it was in 1903. She arrives in the mining town of Frank just prior to the most infamous, and deadly, landslide in Canadian history. The true-life massive slide that
obliterated a portion of the town (near the British Columbia border in southwestern Alberta; the slide area is pretty much unchanged from
when it happened, and is rightfully sobering as you drive through it) while killing between 70 to 90 persons (most still buried under the tons and tons of rock) is the dénouement
of the story. It leads to a climax that is genuinely nail-biting and has you rooting wildly for the widow as the pages diminish. She’s an unlikely but likeable protagonist. Adamson’s writing is strong
and crystal clear. She excels in her evocative descriptions of the landscapes and inhabitants of the Canadian West at the turn of the century. That she tells such a captivating and thrilling tale while doing so enables the reader to ignore the few implausibilities of the story. The Outlander is a memorable
read, seamlessly blending fiction with historical fact. It’s suspenseful and wonderfully paced . The widow’s past is revealed bit by bit, even as the reader vicariously lives her current state of predicament. Researched and written over
10 years by Adamson, the novel is completely deserving of the many awards it won on publication. It’s an exhilarating adventure story, hard to put down once you’ve read the first page, and riveting until the very last one.
40 BOUNDER MAGAZINE
www.bounder.ca
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