Travel Writing Review: North to the Night: A Spiritual Odyssey in the Arctic

Overview: Life-long adventurer Alvah Simon details his daring exploration of the Arctic aboard his sailing ship and home the Roger Henry. With his wife Diana and their brave kitten Halifax, they spend long months preparing themselves and their 36-foot steel yacht for the brutally cold wilderness of the Canadian Arctic.

With the help of locals, the native Inuit, many travelogues and intuition, Alvah, Diana and Halifax sail above N75° latitude to winter in Tay Bay, in an area that is completely isolated by hundreds of miles from the nearest town with just icebergs, glaciers, wind and some natives like the raven, snow fox and the king of the arctic tundra, the polar bear, for company. When Diana has to leave suddenly to return to her dying father in New Zealand, Alvah must face the very thing he fears and desires: surviving the perpetual night of the long arctic winter alone.

Worth reading?: Alvah hooks you with the first chapter set in the midst of a blizzard at 0 hours daylight as he and Halifax are trapped in the ship. The fragility of life in the unforgiving cold is equal to that of adventures of alpinists-one misstep can mean death. The book is unputdownable. Alvah does not put on pretenses or feign bravery — he is honest and sentimental, taking breaks from his own tale to share the struggles of the Inuit people whose incredible patience and perseverance is a source of awe and inspiration for him. And for any sailors, this book could act as a highly entertaining diagnostic guide for anyone crazy enough to try such a journey.

Rating: I didn’t want to finish reading! Though this journey is beyond any adventure I have undertaken, Alvah describes an irresistible desire to see the world and test its limits-and his own-that resonated deeply with me. I have already recommended it to at least 3 people. Definitely worth a read!