On "To the Bright Edge of the World": A Book Review

Title: To the Bright Edge of the World
Author: Eowyn Ivey
Genre: Historical Fiction

About the book…
Setting out to map the territory of the Wolverine River, in 1885, Colonel Allen Forrester and his small group prepare to go on an expedition that they don’t know if they’ll survive. Sophie Forrester, wife of the Colonel, must stay behind at the Vancouver Barracks to await the birth of their child alone.

This is the story Walter Forrester, their great-nephew, wants to share and writing to the Alpine Historical Museum with hopes to donate his collection, including Allen and Sophie’s journals, he begins his own journey.

Told in a series of journal entries, letters, newspaper clippings, and other ephemera, this is a story of the Alaskan wilderness and overcoming the odds.

What I think...
I have been waiting for this book to come out for a year and was in no way disappointed. It’s incredibly good from the actual story (or rather coinciding stories) to the way it was told. 

Shifting between present letters between the owner of the artifacts and a museum worker and then to the past journal entries of Colonel Allen Forrester and his wife Sophie, as well as other writers of various documents, gives the story a dimension of realness. At no point did I feel like any of the voices ran together, which to me is a major feat in itself.   

As with The Snow Child, Ivey has a delicate touch when describing the Alaskan wilderness. The same can be said for the way in which she includes various aspects of native lore, slowly working up to them or making them something to be questioned by the characters. 

When reading this you can tell the amount of research and care that Ivey put into it. There was not only a great deal about the natives living along the river, their lore, and practices, but a large portions devoted to early photography and the challenges with it. 

This book hits a range of things at just the right moment, it’s eerie, bittersweet, heartwarming, and, overall, beautifully written from start to finish. 

To sum it all up…  
An extraordinary book that is difficult to put down once you get started. This certainly has been added to my list of favorite contemporary books and I hope if it's a Pulitzer nomination like her last that it will win! ♥

On Seeing Spots and a Pig

I made this skirt in 2013 and I think it’s about time to share it!

While I like this skirt (made from my favorite Simplicity 3773), I have a hard time finding blouses to pair it with that aren’t too jarring a contrast in color or that make me feel like I’m an Easter egg or that I’m wearing something better suited to a child. That being said, I’ve pretty much limited myself to white and black tops with it and haven't worn it all that often.

A few weeks ago, though, it occurred to me while doing laundry that my cream colored Alice and the pig baby t-shirt is a good match for this skirt, giving me a whole new outfit option. One that I'm quite pleased with since the shirt lacks the normal amount of t-shirt stretchiness and pulls upward more often, meaning something with a high waist is always better.

I don't remember too many details about making this. I know I had a smaller amount of fabric since the front middle panel is made up of three separate pieces and I don't have any large fabric scraps left from it.

For the pockets, I used the wonderful Tasha’s, of By Gum, By Golly, interchangeable pocket flap tutorial. I had plans to make more flaps, but never did, I think primarily because of the same color issue I face with finding a matching blouse and not having enough of the right size snaps. Looking at it now, I think it might be time to make some additional flaps in black or navy blue.

I'm pretty happy to find my Alice shirt works so well with this skirt and can't wait to start wearing them together more often. 

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On Some Walruses and a Seal: A Photo Post

It's nice to wake up in the morning and see the 60's baby walrus that escaped it's box at the foot of my bed.

The other residents of the box are awfully cute too!

♥ ♥ ♥

On A Purple-y Post

I've been having a rather purple-ish past few weeks and they've been pleasant purple things at that. You should now prepare yourself for the excessive use of the word purple...

First is the purple "Alice in Wonderland" record album! About two years ago, I thought I was ordering this album with the purple cover. I ended up with a completely different cover that was red, it was musty, and the silverfish rapidly attacked one corner of it. Finding this one was very exciting and it's in pristine condition in every way.

 

(I'm pretty sure the day I received it in the mail, I was wearing a pair of purple shorts and a purple Harold and the Purple Crayon t-shirt...told you it's been a purple-y few weeks.)

The second purple item is this delightful 70's dress I found on Etsy. I realized most of my true vintage garments are better suited to wear in late fall, winter, or early spring based on either style or fabric type and went looking for some sundresses. This one fits me perfectly, I love the print, and it's my first vintage dress that has elastic in the waistband that doesn't need replacing! 

Excuse the wrinkles. It's living in its envelop until I can wash it and get the smoke smell out.

The next item while not purple, came in a purple mail envelop and is therefore worth sharing among the purple things. I now need to work on making a pair of high-waisted red or blue shorts/pants.

And finally, the one purple item that didn't come in the mail is this 60's/70's dress that belonged to my grandma. At one point it was packed up and put in our garage with thoughts that I'd reuse the fabric for something else...I never actually really looked at it, though. Needless to say that when I pulled it out recently and saw the tag, I was abhorred with myself for not paying attention to what I had and for having thoughts of repurposing it. I look forward to getting it cleaned and putting it with my grandma's other vintage Hawaiian dress in my closet.

And this concludes the purple based post that I've written while wearing my purple pajamas, that I've posted on my blog with the purple background, with photos I took using my purple camera...just in case you were wondering, you've seen the word purple 20 times in this post including the title. :p

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