For fans of Cheryl Strayed, the gripping story of a biologist’s human-powered journey from the Pacific Northwest to the Arctic to rediscover her love of birds, nature, and adventure. During graduate school, as she conducted experiments on the peculiarly misshapen beaks of chickadees, ornithologist Caroline Van Hemert began to feel stifled in the isolated, sterile environment of the lab. … isolated, sterile environment of the lab. Worried that she was losing her passion for the scientific research she once loved, she was compelled to experience wildness again, to be guided by the sounds of birds and to follow the trails of animals.
In March of 2012, she and her husband set off on a 4,000-mile wilderness journey from the Pacific rainforest to the Alaskan Arctic, traveling by rowboat, ski, foot, raft, and canoe. Together, they survived harrowing dangers while also experiencing incredible moments of joy and grace — migrating birds silhouetted against the moon, the steamy breath of caribou, and the bond that comes from sharing such experiences.
A unique blend of science, adventure, and personal narrative, The Sun is a Compass explores the bounds of the physical body and the tenuousness of life in the company of the creatures who make their homes in the wildest places left in North America. Inspiring and beautifully written, this love letter to nature is a lyrical testament to the resilience of the human spirit.
Winner of the 2019 Banff Mountain Book Competition: Adventure Travel
A truly astounding journey, beautifully written. Caroline Van Hemert follows in the tradition of wilderness adventurers John Muir, Margaret Murie, Cheryl Strayed, and Robert Macfarlane, but she is not one to stick to well-trodden trails. Alongside her husband, she faces predatory bears, roaring rivers, and 4,000 miles of the world’s most remote, wild country. She also weaves in her doubts, questions, and insights as a woman and bird biologist. An edge-of-your-seat thrilling read, but with a refreshing humility and grace. My favorite book of 2019, and one the best Alaskan books I have ever read.
3.5 stars. Engaging and occasionally suspenseful memoir of a trek through Alaska and the Artic rim. Van Hemert finds herself uninspired and frustrated with academia, despite having worked so hard to get where she was. Biology became monotonous and painstaking instead of enlightening and awe-inspiring. To reclaim her attachment to biological science, she and her partner journey across Alaska. The book is filled with memorable scenes, but it really focuses on the small details and monotony of the trip which dragged down the pacing a lot. Their journey was quite amazing, but she didn’t always provide the amazement in the narration. The passages about birds made the read worthwhile. Overall, a plodding but often beautiful adventure memoir.
This book is so beautifully written and left me torn between packing my bags for a trip to Alaska and accepting the fact I am, quite possibly, not cut out for a 4000-mile trek across the northern end of the continent. I’ve always wanted to just walk somewhere, though.
For dreamers like me, this book is a wonderful travelogue. I felt as though I’d been there and gained a new appreciation not only for the wilds of Alaska – and the birds – but also the ability to exist in the moment.
I was not a fan of Wild–I found it pretty unbelievable that she started off that massive undertaking having done heroin, also not preparing for it.
To me this memoir is the anti-Wild, in the best of ways: the adventure, minus the ego. This couple, a scientist and a contractor who have passionately immersed themselves in nature their entire lives, decide to challenge themselves by hiking and paddling 4000 miles over 6 months from the Pacific Coast to the Alaskan Arctic. Their story is deeply compelling, beautifully written, peppered with fascinating information about all sorts of flora and fauna, especially birds, as the author is a biologist whose expertise is ornithology. The account of this daunting journey is a fascinating read and I highly recommend it.
I love a good adventure story and if it involves ice I’m in. Caroline Van Hemert’s memoir The Sun is a Compass is a beautiful and thoughtful exposition on her love of the Alaskan wilderness and the 4,000-mile journey she and her spouse shared over six months. The memoir transcends the typical story of man (or woman) vs nature, for Van Hemert also documents her struggle to find her life path–will she be content in a research career, what about children, how long will their bodies allow them to follow their hearts?
Working in the field as a student, Alaskan native Van Hemert became interested in ornithology, and in particular why so many chickadees beaks were misformed. Lab work was soul-deadening. She and her husband Peter, who at eighteen trekked into Alaska and built his own cabin by hand, had long discussed a dream journey from the Pacific Northwest rain forest to the Arctic Circle. Before Van Hemert decided on her career path they committed to making their dream a reality.
Their journey took them across every challenging terrain and through every extreme weather imaginable, bringing them face-to-face with predator bear and migrating caribou, driven near crazy by mosquitoes swarms and nearly starving waiting for food drop-offs. But they also met hospitality in far distant corners and saw up close a quickly vanishing ecosystem.
It is a story of a marriage, as well; how Peter and Caroline depended on each other while carrying their own weight–literally, with seventy-pound supply packs.
I enjoyed reading this memoir on so many levels. Van Hemert has written a profound memoir on our vanishing wilderness and the hard decisions women scientists must make.
I thank the publisher who allowed me access to an egalley through NetGalley.
I was thoroughly charmed by Caroline Van Hemert’s memoir of arctic travel. The astonishing length of the journey she and her husband chose to make – on foot, by rowboat, and on skis – leaves you shaking your head in wonder. Her honesty about her own anxieties, her informed thought about fearful and beautiful encounters along the way, and the gritty determination with which she and her husband faced each day offer us a rich and compelling story.
What a marvelous book. An enthralling blend of adventure story, insightful memoir, and keen-eyed nature observation. Van Hemert is a fearless spirit and a master storyteller, to be admired equally for her astonishing grit and her elegant, compelling prose.
Ornithologist and naturalist Caroline Van Hemert has written a thrilling account of an epic journey from the Pacific Coast to the Arctic Ocean. A triumph in wilderness travel, scientific curiosity, and adventure writing that exposes the sublime thrill and loving touch to be found in nature and our fellow human beings.
Caroline Van Hemert has crafted a book as remarkable and dimensional as her epic journey. She is able to offer a scientist’s insight into the natural world while writing of danger, beauty, and love without ego and with refreshing grace and honesty. Her book is a gift not just to those who like to venture on the wild side, but to anyone intrigued by the possibilities of strong partnership, imagination, and curiosity. This is unlikely to be a book you just read; it is one that will make you soar.
In The Sun Is a Compass, adventure and romance journey hand in hand, covering 4,000 tough miles, reminding all of us that the easy way may not be the best way.
I thoroughly enjoyed The Sun Is a Compass. It is an exciting modern adventure story in the far north that will appeal to anyone with a yen for experiencing wild nature.
Caroline Van Hemert’s vibrant and elegant book transports, educates, and inspires. To read The Sun Is a Compass is to be masterfully guided through the wild by an expert not only on nature itself but on the deep and often hidden connections between the natural world and our human lives.
I saw this book as I was searching through Netgalley and the synopsis greatly intrigued me. I requested the book and received an ARC copy. This book was a detailed and great narrative of the trek this couple took. It was a book I’m glad I had the chance to read. I have been to the Yukon and Alaska so know that the terrain and route they traversed was treacherous and sometimes daunting. This is part of what drew me to read their story.
I admire the tenacity, determination, and perseverance this couple had to make a journey of 4000 miles and 6 months to complete through wilderness that few humans have traversed. They hiked, they skied, they paddled different types of boats with just the things they could carry on their backs most of the time. They endured many challenges along the way. Freezing temps, blizzards, torrential rains, hunger and sometimes doubts.
The descriptions that Ms. Van Hemert writes are extremely detailed. From the different types of animals to the terrain they are in. They cross paths with grizzly bears, a caribou migration, whales, and so many different types of birds. She especially focuses on the many different birds they encounter. I learned more about birds than I ever imagined reading this book.
This was a journey of a lifetime and one that not many would have been able to complete. I admire this.
I want to thank Netgalley and Ms. Van Hemert for the opportunity to read this book.