Courtesy of Beaverdale Books

Review by Harriet Leitch

By Andrea Thalasinos

Published by Forge

Aug. 21, 2012

$23.99

368 pages

This story is told in two eras: one in the late teens and 1920s set in Russia and the other in Wisconsin in the early 1990s. Jeaantaa is the Keeper of the Guardians (Husky dogs) in the Chukchi culture in Siberia. Her people are, at first, protected and then destroyed by Stalin’s Red Army. Jeaantaa ensures young Guardians are passed on to an American brought over from Alaska by an Inuit guide. She then escapes the Red Army troops who came to destroy their village, taking with her the older Guardians that her husband would have left behind.

The 1990s story begins with Rosalie being fired from her job as a hair stylist in northern Wisconsin. In an abusive marriage, she rescues an abused Husky from the local junkyard on her way home and begins her journey to find her strengths and purpose in the world of competitive dog sledding. During her journey, she sheds the abusive husband, finds both canine and human love and discovers her potential in the world of veterinary medicine. Her life becomes intertwined with the Chukchi world through memory flashes of Jeaantaa’s journey and her evolving connections in the dog-sledding world. In this journey, she is aided and encouraged by her employers, family and friends to develop her talents as best she can.

This first novel by Midwestern author Andrea Thalasinos was gripping, although some of the characters could have benefited from more development. Dog lovers will find her fascination with the Huskies totally believable and the information on dog sledding extremely interesting. CV