I did become emotionally invested in this one. In a way, it's the most romantic book I've ever enjoyed. The characters aren't quite 3-dimensional, but aren't exactly flat. (Archetypal?) The pay-off is telegraphed from about the first third of the novel. And the setting, 1920's Alaska frontier, could have played as an additional character in the hands of someone like David Mitchell (not that he would have written this).

But for all the parts that miss (just), Ivey does some brilliant things with tone and plot that kept me wondering if this were magical realism or just plain realism. The longing of Jack and Mabel for a child of their own is painful. Their self-imposed isolation is weighty. And I don't really have a novel to compare this to, which is something.

I think this is a book we'll hear a bit about for the coming year.