When chapter one is entitled "Missing," the gut-clenching starts early. Those who follow mountaineering are likely all too familiar with world-renowned alpinist Christine Boskoff, who left a successful career at Lockheed Martin at almost 30, a latecomer to climbing, and rocketed to the top of the sport. Humble and driven, Boskoff is the only American woman to have summited six 8,000-meter peaks.
In Edge of the Map, Johanna Garton (Awakening East) lovingly takes over her journalist mother's efforts to write a book about Boskoff, derailed by Parkinson's disease. She depicts the themes that ran through Boskoff's life: battling the odds, surviving loss and grief, and pursuing dreams.
The climbing community is a close-knit and often tragic one. Boskoff's path is filled with examples that give rise to the adage "If you can't handle death, you shouldn't be in the business of climbing." She and her husband, Keith, took over legend Scott Fischer's Mountain Madness following Fischer's death in the 1996 Everest catastrophe (the subject of Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air). Boskoff ran the international guide service alone after Keith's death, and turned it into a highly successful venture. She unexpectedly found late love and a new climbing partner in the renowned Charlie Fowler; the two later disappeared while climbing in China in 2006.
Garton excels at creating and maintaining interest and tension even when the reader knows the tragic ending. From the unlikely climber's childhood to the trek to bring Boskoff home, Garton captivates readers with an engaging narrative style that gives them a taste of the summit. --Lauren O'Brien of Malcolm Avenue Review