Cormac James's North American debut is a stunning historical novel that deals with the ill-fated 1845 John Franklin expedition in search of the Northwest Passage. After the expedition's two ships weren't heard from for years, more were sent to find them. The Surfacing imagines the story of what happened to the men on one of the rescue ships.
Spring, 1850: The Impetus with six officers, one Greenlander, 10 other men and a boy has arrived at Disko Island, Greenland, to take on supplies. The island "looked like burned bog," no trees, no grass. Huts roofed with sod were dug into the hillside. While in port, Lieutenant Morgan enjoys a fling with the governor's sister, Kitty, one he thinks is safely behind him when his ship again sets sail in search of the Franklin expedition. Unbeknownst to Morgan, however, Kitty has stowed away, and it's too late to turn back when the lieutenant finds out.
Morgan follows rules and cares for his men, but Kitty, now pregnant, turns his world upside down. James delves deeply into Morgan's psyche to uncover what happens to a man when he learns he's to be a father--in a hostile, threatening environment. He portrays the daily drudgery of life on the ship and the frozen surroundings in the most exquisite prose. The ice pack "crackled like a burning log" and felt awake--"They listened to it fret." And later: "The ice had the cold conscience of pearl." James's novel is a chiseled, cool work of poetic brilliance. --Tom Lavoie, former publisher