The Barrens
Audio only

The Barrens

A Novel of Love and Death in the Canadian ArcticBy Kurt Johnson, Ellie JohnsonNarrated by Erica Sullivan
Length7h 12m

About this audiobook

This riveting debut is at once a white-water adventure, coming-of-age novel, and tale of tragic love—and an extraordinary father-daughter collaboration. Two young women attending college decide to have a summer adventure canoeing the rapids-strewn Thelon River that runs 450 miles through the uninhabited Barren Lands of subarctic Canada. Holly made the trip once before with a group of skilled paddlers she trained with at camp, and she wants to share that experience with her friend and lover, Lee, believing it will draw them closer. But a week in, Holly, the risk-taker, falls while taking a selfie near the edge of a cliff. She is left injured and comatose, and soon dies. Their locator beacon for summoning rescue was smashed in Holly’s fall. It remains to Lee, the inexperienced paddler, to continue the grueling and dangerous trip alone, to save herself and return her lover’s body to civilization and Holly’s family. In their relationship, Holly and Lee had always told each other stories; Lee had called Holly a “storyist.” Storytelling helps Lee endure the rigors of her journey and engage her grief as she explores her relationship with Holly while chronicling her own coming-of-age off the grid in Nebraska with her estranged eco-anarchist father, who is now serving time in prison.

Audiobook details

Rating★★★★ 4.2 (1.7K)
Includes Goodreads, StoryGraph, Amazon, LibraryThing
GenreGeneral Fiction, Action and Adventure
Length7 hrs 12 mins
Narrated byErica Sullivan
FormatAudiobook
Publish dateAug 6, 2022
LanguageEnglish
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