Along with poetry and short stories, extended personal essays occupy a place on any list of underappreciated literary works. In the 12 fresh, candid, and often emotionally resonant pieces that compose Another North: Essays, however, Jennifer Brice reveals how the almost limitless flexibility of the essay makes it such an appealing vehicle for a writer of her skill.Brice (Unlearning to Fly), who teaches contemporary literature and creative writing at Colgate University, wrote these essays over 25 years, and admits they are arranged solely "in a way that makes intuitive sense to me." As a result, she often circles back to familiar themes, among them family, her romantic life, and how she navigates the world as a woman. Many of the essays draw on her roots in Fairbanks, Alaska, the farthest-north city in North America and the place to which she returned after graduating from Smith College in 1985. It's a locale that for her is "simultaneously home/not home," but one that indisputably has shaped her identity.
Among the most memorable essays in a book that touches on subjects that include cooking, selecting the perfect white T-shirt, and losing things, is "Playing Bridge with Robots." In it, Brice traces the arc of her long friendship with a fellow writer, Sherry, that once was a "fire at which I warmed myself," before it fell, inexplicably, into a silence that lasted 20 years. "I know what it's like, that partial eclipse of the sun. Such a surprise. So chilling." Another standout piece is "My Essay on Flowers and How Things End," a mini-memoir that focuses on Brice's checkered love life. She calls it her "weird abecedarian essay," in which each section begins with the name of a flower in alphabetical order and stands for a different personality trait.
Brice's mother, Carol Ann, is a recurring and consistently fascinating figure. The elder Brice, who grew up in New York as the daughter of a surgeon and his socialite wife, arrived in Alaska to work as a public health nurse. She returned to school for a master's degree that led to a career as a family therapist and a prominent role advocating for the state's families and children, one that earned her a Fairbanks building named in her honor. In 2006, she was diagnosed with dementia, and in several essays Brice touches on how that illness complicated the existing challenges of their relationship.
Anyone who appreciates the work of writers like Rebecca Solnit and Mark Slouka will find a kindred spirit in Jennifer Brice. As revealing as these essays are of her life, readers shouldn't be surprised if they spark meaningful reflections of their own. --Harvey Freedenberg, freelance reviewer
Shelf Talker: Jennifer Brice surveys aspects of her life in a refreshingly candid collection of personal essays.