And She Was by Cindy Dyson: Brandy is a young woman who drifts through life, moving from man to man, following each wherever he takes her. At the start of this book she has just followed the latest all the way to Dutch, a tiny town on the Aleutian Island of Unalaska. Intertwined with her story is that of several generations of Aleutian women, each sacrificing so that her people may live. The first half of the book is kind of slow, paddling around in shallow waters to thoroughly set the scene. After that it picks up, both the story and its characters gaining depth as Brandy begins her slow transformation at the edge of the world.

This is an atmospheric book, in that it involves highly detailed characters with highly detailed backstories living in a highly detailed world, but not a whole lot actually happens. It is not the kind of book that keeps you up at night, dying to read just one more chapter. This is not necessarily a bad thing – this is a good book to curl up with on a quiet afternoon and just let yourself travel to the Aleutians of twenty years ago.

Also posted on BookCrossing.