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
Whistler
WhistlerAnn Patchett10h 45m4.6 (4.6K)$29 · $0.00
Demon Copperhead
Demon CopperheadBarbara Kingsolver21h 3m4.5 (949.4K)$46 · $0.00
To Kill a Mockingbird
To Kill a MockingbirdHarper Lee12h 18m4.5 (7.4M)$29 · $0.00
Remarkably Bright Creatures
Remarkably Bright CreaturesShelby Van Pelt11h 17m4.4 (1.7M)$29 · $0.00
War Lord
War LordBernard Cornwell13h 21m4.6 (33.1K)$33 · $0.00
The Great Gatsby: Original 1925 Edition (An F. Scott Fitzgerald Classic Novel
The Great Gatsby: Original 1925 Edition (An F. Scott Fitzgerald Classic NovelFrancis Scott Fitzgerald4h 45m4.6 (9.3K)$18 · $0.00
Something Like Love
Something Like LoveBeverly Jenkins10h 21m4.6 (2.7K)$29 · $0.00
Black History Collection
Black History CollectionFrederick Douglass, Harriet Ann Jacobs, Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois27h 9m4.6 (2.6K)$18 · $0.00
The Old Man and the Sea (Annotated)
The Old Man and the Sea (Annotated)Ernest Hemingway4h 27m4.6 (1.4K)$2 · $0.00
White Hot
White HotIlona Andrews13h 18m4.5 (136.9K)$5 · $0.00
The Ghost by the Billabong (The Matilda Saga, #5)
The Ghost by the Billabong (The Matilda Saga, #5)Jackie French14h 58m4.6 (773)$33 · $0.00
Cast in Blood
Cast in BloodMichelle Sagara16h 35m4.6 (607)$33 · $0.00
The Captain Blood Trilogy (Annotated)
The Captain Blood Trilogy (Annotated)Rafael Sabatini29h 20m4.6 (1K)$3 · $0.00
Ship of the Line (Annotated)
Ship of the Line (Annotated)Cecil Louis Troughton Smith11h 13m4.6 (1K)$2 · $0.00
The George Orwell Collection
The George Orwell CollectionGeorge Orwell24h 46m4.5 (14.4K)$12 · $0.00
Time Regained
Time RegainedMarcel Proust15h 38m4.5 (9.2K)$2 · $0.00
Driving Force
Driving ForceElle James4h 58m4.6 (407)$20 · $0.00
When God Calls the Heart
When God Calls the HeartBrian Bird, Michelle Cox3h 24m4.6 (439)$10 · $0.00
Five Little Indians
Five Little IndiansMichelle Good10h 34m4.5 (64.5K)$29 · $0.00
Lolth's Warrior
Lolth's WarriorR. A. Salvatore13h 20m4.6 (2.4K)$33 · $0.00
Something Like Love
Something Like LoveBeverly Jenkins10h 21m4.6 (2.7K)$29 · $0.00
Scaramouche (Annotated)
Scaramouche (Annotated)Rafael Sabatini15h 24m4.6 (1.8K)$2 · $0.00
Jubal Stone: U.S. Marshal: Blood Trail To Hell: A Western Adventure Novel
Jubal Stone: U.S. Marshal: Blood Trail To Hell: A Western Adventure NovelCasey Nash3h 42m4.6 (3.2K)$18 · $0.00
The Labyrinth of the Spirits
The Labyrinth of the SpiritsCarlos Ruiz Zafon27h 55m4.5 (77.2K)$53 · $0.00
Ship of the Line (Annotated)
Ship of the Line (Annotated)Cecil Louis Troughton Smith11h 13m4.6 (1K)$2 · $0.00
The Road to Gundagai (The Matilda Saga, #3)
The Road to Gundagai (The Matilda Saga, #3)Jackie French12h 31m4.6 (1.2K)$33 · $0.00
Timeless
TimelessR. A. Salvatore12h 30m4.5 (8K)$33 · $0.00
An Inside Job
An Inside JobDaniel Silva9h 28m4.4 (26.3K)$29 · $0.00
The Commodore
The CommodoreP. T. Deutermann11h 53m4.5 (2.4K)$20 · $0.00
A Closed and Common Orbit
A Closed and Common OrbitBecky Chambers11h 30m4.4 (140.7K)$29 · $0.00
Thud!
Thud!Terry Pratchett10h 31m4.4 (112.6K)$8 · $0.00
All Quiet on the Western Front (Annotated)
All Quiet on the Western Front (Annotated)Erich Maria Remarque8h 34m4.4 (12.9K)$1.99 · $0.00
Exit Fee
Exit FeeBrad Taylor3h 16m4.5 (1.9K)$18 · $0.00
The Alice Network
The Alice NetworkKate Quinn15h 7m4.4 (887.1K)$33 · $0.00
The Ohio River Trilogy: Betty Zane, The Spirit of the Border & The Last Trail
The Ohio River Trilogy: Betty Zane, The Spirit of the Border & The Last TrailZane Grey29h 8m4.4 (1.8K)$1 · $0.00
A Darkness Returns
A Darkness ReturnsRaymond E. Feist19h 29m4.4 (1.9K)$40 · $0.00
THE VALLEY OF SILENT MEN (Annotated)
THE VALLEY OF SILENT MEN (Annotated)James Oliver Curwood8h 25m4.5 (420)$2 · $0.00
The Emperor's Fist
The Emperor's FistJay Allan8h 37m4.5 (272)$26 · $0.00
West of the Tularosa
West of the TularosaLouis L’Amour5h 53m4.4 (3.6K)$20 · $0.00
The Amazing Interlude (Annotated)
The Amazing Interlude (Annotated)Mary Roberts Rinehart8h 42m4.5 (365)$1.99 · $0.00

You may also like

No Matter the Distance
No Matter the DistanceCindy Baldwin4h 7m4.2 (845)$20 · $0.00
Captains Courageous: A Story of the Grand Banks
Captains Courageous: A Story of the Grand BanksRudyard Kipling5h 57m4.0 (41K)$2.30 · $0.00
The Yearling (Annotated)
The Yearling (Annotated)Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings15h 10m4.2 (1.3K)$2 · $0.00
Pax, Journey Home
Pax, Journey HomeSara Pennypacker4h 34m4.5 (12.4K)$20 · $0.00
Touch the Top of the World
Touch the Top of the WorldErik Weihenmayer11h 18m4.3 (2.9K)$20 · $0.00
Mud, Rocks, Blazes
Mud, Rocks, BlazesHeather Anderson7h 9m4.2 (2.8K)$17
Daydreams of Angels
Daydreams of AngelsHeather O'Neill8h 44m4.0 (2K)$20 · $0.00
I Had to Survive
I Had to SurviveDr. Roberto Canessa, Pablo Vierci8h 31m4.3 (5.4K)$20 · $0.00
Under the Open Skies
Under the Open SkiesMarkus Torgeby, Frida Torgeby2h 24m4.1 (535)$16 · $0.00
The Blue Lagoon (Annotated)
The Blue Lagoon (Annotated)Henry De Vere Stacpoole7h 47m3.8 (5.8K)$2 · $0.00
Lean on Pete movie tie-in
Lean on Pete movie tie-inWilly Vlautin7h 26m4.1 (13.7K)$24 · $0.00
The House of Impossible Beauties
The House of Impossible BeautiesJoseph Cassara15h 35m4.0 (7K)$33 · $0.00
Go Find
Go FindSusan Purvis13h 6m4.3 (1K)$23 · $0.00
"Captains Courageous"
"Captains Courageous"Rudyard Kipling6h 16m4.0 (31.1K)$1 · $0.00
Girl Unbroken
Girl UnbrokenRegina Calcaterra, Rosie Maloney11h 47m4.4 (14.3K)$29 · $0.00
The Sharp End of Life
The Sharp End of LifeDierdre Wolownick9h 44m4.3 (388)$20 · $0.00
Girl in the Woods
Girl in the WoodsAspen Matis14h 31m3.7 (12.1K)$33 · $0.00
Indian Captive
Indian CaptiveLois Lenski7h 18m4.0 (10.8K)$20
Children of the Dead End: The Autobiography of an Irish Navvy (Annotated)
Children of the Dead End: The Autobiography of an Irish Navvy (Annotated)Patrick MacGill9h 34m4.3 (1.5K)$2 · $0.00
Refuge
RefugeDot Jackson14h 4m4.3 (5.9K)$23 · $0.00