Ann Walker
2/19/2014
I'm still not sure why this was on a list of genre fic (where I found it) rather than literary fic. There was/might have been a fantasy element - Was Charlotte's experience a fantasy? Was it a hallucination? Was it real? There's a great sense of place to it (Pacific Northwest logging country, ca. 1905), and really vivid descriptive passages. Charlotte's sense of frustration as a sole parent of five children and not a pirate or adventurer is achingly palpable. The framing of the story, as a journal passed between two grandchildren, removed a lot of the suspense but also gave context as a feminist text. It was an engrossing read.