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 (Lookout; Women Who Dig) probes the complicated bond humans share with black bears, the most populous ursine species in North America and thus often the most undervalued. She recounts the story of an orphaned black bear cub her wildlife biologist father brought home for a night when Moyles was five years old. Fascinated by the cub, Moyles felt a deep empathy for the young animal. That encounter sparked Moyles's interest in the black bear, which only grew when she later spent several seasons as a fire lookout in the Albertan boreal forest. As she watched the nearby forest for smoke, she began to notice, identify, and eventually develop relationships with several black bears who denned, grazed, and played near her fire tower. Though her friends and family reminded her that the bears are wild and therefore unpredictable, Moyles became convinced they are also more intelligent than most people realize. 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 despite their wildly differing lives and viewpoints.
"All too often we want wildlife on our own fixed, human terms," Moyles writes, examining the human tendency to carve up and control the land over which bears and other creatures roam. She considers different methods for managing wildlife, advocating for a thoughtful, layered approach to coexistence rather than extermination. She 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. "Fear can serve us," she admits, "but clinging to it can get in the way of being fully present in the world." 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
Shelf Talker: Trina Moyles's stunning second memoir traces her encounters with black bears in the Alberta boreal forest, alongside her complicated, loving bond with her older brother.