This Much Country

January 15, 2019
A vibrant memoir of sled dog racing in the wilds of Alaska.As a teenager, Pace spent every summer at an outdoor adventure camp in Colorado, living in a covered wagon and learning wilderness survival skills. Returning to the camp as a counselor deepened her love of adventure. Danger, she reveals in her assured and absorbing literary debut, gave her a "jolt of adrenaline" that became an addiction. "Or rather," she writes, "a purifying ritual." Six days after graduating from high school, Pace left her home and family in Texas to travel to Montana to live in a one-room log cabin with a man she met online. Although her parents had misgivings, they encouraged her independence and cheered when she enrolled in the University of Montana. After she graduated, she took a summer internship at the Denali National Park Sled Dog Kennels, where she developed "an insatiable love for dogs" and a clear sense of Alaska's brutal backcountry. The following spring, she accompanied a musher on an "absolutely hellish" 20-mile patrol across slick ice and deep snow. "It was the hardest thing I had ever done," she recalls, but she was "more scared of living a boring life" than confronting peril. When her marriage ended, Pace, divorced and bereft, became a caretaker for sled dogs, living alone in a small cabin in the wilderness. With temperatures that could plummet to 60 degrees below zero, the author faced the challenges of keeping herself and her dogs alive: not least, chopping firewood and hauling water (the cabin had no running water and no indoor plumbing). Sled dogs, whom she lovingly portrays as having distinct and quirky personalities, were seductive, and racing beckoned irresistibly: Much of the memoir recounts Pace's training for and racing in the Yukon Quest and the Iditarod, both exhausting, exhilarating, and, as Pace depicts them, glorious feats. Soon, the author and her new love set up their own kennel, devoted to their valiant dogs--and to each other.A buoyant evocation of a thrilling, hardscrabble life.

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Starred review from April 1, 2019

Perhaps the most otherworldly of all the states, Alaska conjures images of snowscapes and the iconic Iditarod. Despite its incredible beauty, harsher living conditions are a deterrent for many; not, however, for Pace. In this debut, the author documents her journey when, reeling from a painful divorce, she sought solace in a job caring for a musher's dogs one winter. Having some prior experience with mushing and highly independent, Pace sought both healing and distraction in the hard work of manual labor in the more primitive areas of the state. What she found was something more. Pace takes everything in stride: the day-to-day struggles of pumping water into her unplumbed cabin during freezing temperatures, developing a closer relationship with the dogs, and ultimately participating in the Iditarod. Throughout, she brings readers on a luminescent journey into Alaska and her experiences as she reawakens her heart. VERDICT An intriguing account of one woman's quest to redefine herself in a land that mirrors her own wild spirit. Will appeal to a multitude of readers, particularly fans of Cheryl Strayed's Wild.--Stacy Shaw, Denver

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Starred review from February 1, 2019
Growing up in Texas and spending summers exploring Colorado, Pace nurtured an adventurous spirit. With her parents' unconditional support, she took a risk and followed her high-school sweetheart into the mountains of Montana after graduation. When adulthood and marriage prove challenging, she finds comfort in Mother Nature and her beloved dogs. But when life suddenly crumbles around her, the landscape isn't enough to turn things around, and Pace jumps at a serendipitous opportunity to move to Alaska. In her first book, she takes readers along on her courageous Alaskan journey. The extreme conditions, both internal and external?bitter-cold temperatures, winter darkness, and utter heartbreak?prove no match for Pace's perseverance. Supportive new neighbors, a community of like-minded souls, and her cherished dogs ease away her heartache and make room for renewal and self-discovery. And Pace doesn't just stop there. Fully embracing the Alaskan spirit, she sets her sights on becoming one of a few women to complete the most challenging dogsled races in the world, the Yukon Quest and Iditarod. This Much Country is an honest, heartfelt, and exciting memoir and a must-read for all nature lovers seeking a glimpse into a truly Alaskan adventure.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)