The Sun Is a Compass

Xe Sands narrates this inspiring memoir with grace, humor and an engaging intimacy. Caroline Van Hemert and her husband, Pat, are tough and adventurous as they travel from Washington to Alaska by rowboat, canoe, skis, raft, and on foot in an incredible feat of endurance. There is no bravado here. Sands's sincere and tender tone captures Caroline's deep affection for her family, especially her husband. Sands will make you feel the torment of relentless mosquitoes, the fatigue at the end of a day of pouring rain, and the awe at unexpectedly witnessing a caribou migration. Caroline and Pat run out of food, get stalked by a bear, and capsize in the ocean. But they also cement their relationship to each other as well as to the landscape and nature. A.B. � AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine