Ada Blackjack: A True Story of Survival in the Arctic

I read Ada Blackjack: A True Story of Survival in the Arctic by Jennifer Niven for the first book in a new book club a friend started. Here's the book description from Amazon: "In September 1921, four young men and Ada Blackjack, a diminutive 25-year-old Eskimo woman, ventured deep into the Arctic in a secret attempt to colonize desolate Wrangel Island for Great Britain. Two years later, Ada Blackjack emerged as the sole survivor of this ambitious polar expedition. This young, unskilled woman--who had headed to the Arctic in search of money and a husband--conquered the seemingly unconquerable north and survived all alone after her male companions had perished. Following her triumphant return to civilization, the international press proclaimed her the female Robinson Crusoe. But whatever stories the press turned out came from the imaginations of reporters: Ada Blackjack refused to speak to anyone about her horrific two years in the Arctic. Only on one occasion--after charges were published falsely accusing her of causing the death of one her companions--did she speak up for herself."

This was a really interesting book. It was long, but I was able to finish it pretty quickly because the story was engaging, and I wanted to see how things panned out. The author did a great job portraying the various people involved, though I did consider that this is just one side of the story so I was definitely swayed in favor of some people (Ada) and against others (Stefansson). It was interesting to hear about the way they lived in the Arctic and how they tried to survive, and it was fun to discuss with friends at book club. Good read.

Rating: * * (2/3 = Liked it)