Curve of Time: The Classic Memoir of a Woman and Her Children Who Explored the Coastal Waters of the Pacific Northwest »

After her husband died in 1927, leaving her with five small children, everyone expected the struggles of single motherhood on a remote island to overcome M. Wylie Blanchet. Instead, this courageous woman became one of the pioneers of “family travel,” acting as both mother and captain of the twenty-five-foot boat that became her family’s home during the long Northwest summers. Blanchet’s lyrically written account reads like fantastic fiction, but her adventures are all very real. There are dangers—rough water, bad weather, wild animals—but there are also the quiet respect and deep peace of a woman teaching her children the wonder and awesome depth of the natural world. “Filled with observations on natural history and the wonders of the wild, (Blanchet's) prose, like the waterfall she describes, sings.”—Kliatt

Publishers Weekly

This sweet volume is Blanchet's recounting of summers spent sailing around Vancouver Island with her children in a 25-foot-long boat. Their adventures include close encounters with a cougar and killer whales, looking for seahorses and discovering Native American artifacts. But the book lacks a context. A short introduction by a friend indicates that the book was first published in Canada 30 years ago, that the author died six months later while working on a sequel, and that some new material has been incorporated into the present edition. The ages of her children are never given, nor are the sections in the book dated. Those unfamiliar with the region may be just as disoriented, since the distances covered are rarely given. Once it becomes obvious that such clues are not forthcoming, the book itself is readable and enjoyable, especially its descriptions of the wildlife encountered on these journeys. With a little more care, however, this could have had meaning for more than just a small circle of Blanchet's friends. (Apr.) *CHILDREN'S BOOKS