Trina Moyles's stunning second memoir, Black Bear, is an exploration of the fraught connection between humans and bears, and a tender account of her complex relationship with her brother.
Moyles (Women Who Dig) probes the complicated bond humans share with black bears. Moyles's interest in the black bear grew when she spent several seasons as a fire lookout in the Albertan boreal forest. As she watched the nearby forest for smoke, she began to identify and eventually develop relationships with several black bears that denned, grazed, and played near her fire tower. Through research, interviews with wildlife experts, and her own experiences, Moyles developed a nuanced understanding of a species often treated as a nuisance or a threat.
Alongside her growing bond with the bears, Moyles traces her sometimes difficult relationship with her older brother, Brendan, who spent much of his adult life working in Alberta's oil industry. The isolation and hard labor of working in oil camps took their toll on Brendan, who struggled with mental health issues and substance abuse. Moyles writes about her brother with affection and admiration, but is also candid about the rift between them, and the shifts that led to a delicate reconciliation.
Moyles writes in vibrant, poetic prose about close encounters with bears in the boreal forest, then turns the same clear, lyrical lens on her relationship with Brendan and its challenges. Black Bear is a powerful, sensitive account of one woman's willingness to set aside her fears and pay attention--to the bears, to her brother, and to the possibilities for living in relationship with fellow creatures, be they human or ursine. --Katie Noah Gibson, blogger at Cakes, Tea and Dreams