The Outlander - Gil Adamson

This book first came to my attention last year when it was a contender for CBC radio's Canada Reads competition, championed by actor Nicholas Campbell. With all of the coverage of the competition last winter, I heard Gil Adamson interviewed about her book, and it sounded intriguing.

A 19-year old widow, who has murdered her husband, escapes across the prairies and into the mountains, pursued by her husband's brothers. An adventure survival story. It was a good read, but I found it a bit clunky at times, and the whole ending a bit unbelievable, given everything that the reader knows about the main character.

And another thing that annoyed me was the historical incongruence. The story is set in Canada in 1903 and is told in the present tense, but occasionally the narrator slips in a much more modern reference (and unfortunately, I can't find an example just right now). As it was always with the narrator that I noticed it, and never in the dialogue, I don't know if it was a deliberate writing technique or if it was just accidental, but it did spoil my enjoyment of the book.

The book is well paced and interesting, but never seemed real to me. I probably won't go back to re-read this book in the future.

This book was read as part of The Canadian Book Challenge at The Book Mine Set.