Melissa Slager’s painstakingly researched, carefully constructed epic historical novel is rooted in the history of the native peoples of North America’s west coast, drawing from ancient myths and the region’s geological history.
Set in 1699 in what is now the area around Cape Flattery in Washington State and Vancouver Island’s west coast, the story centers on two characters in what is now known as the Makah Tribe, a people whose existence was closely tied to the rhythm and demands of the sea.
The son of a tribal chief, Dushuuw, 19, is a warrior at heart who’s been forced to become a whaler following his murder of his arranged wife’s lover. He joins family, friends and tribesmen in the whaling canoes to rebuild social status and atone for his crime. As he seeks forgiveness, he’s torn between the expectations of others and his own nature.
Meanwhile, Amuun’axsum, a slave to the village’s shaman, finds herself steadily losing all memories of her former existence as the daughter of tribal nobility, seven years after enslavement.
The two characters eventually find themselves caught in a taboo attraction, one that defies cultural norms. As they struggle to find a way forward, another threat looms: The Cascadia subduction zone earthquake and tsunami of January 26, 1700 suddenly endangers their way of life.
Slager balances her focus on the protagonists with in-depth attention to historical detail, weaving in traditional Makah songs, stories and folklore. Anyone interested in information and context about the Makah and its neighboring tribes will find much to celebrate here. Indeed, the sheer density of historical context is the book’s strength—and occasional distraction. The language, history and folklore is a lot to absorb, and those elements slow momentum for the first 200 pages or so.
But overall, Slager skillfully balances the history with a fundamentally human story: two young adults seeking to find their place, bound by cultural pitfalls and threatened by the whims of the natural world.
Also available as an ebook.