About the Author

Joan Clark is the author of two previous novels, Eriksdotter and The Victory of Geraldine Gull, which won the Canadian Author’s Association Award and was shortlisted for the Governor General’s Award, and of a collection of short stories, Swimming Toward the Light. She has also written several award-winning books for children. Joan Clark was born in Liverpool, Nova Scotia, and has lived for several years in St. John’s, Newfoundland.

Reviews

“Joan Clark evokes the profound sense of place we associate with the best Canadian writing. Her writing exudes the salty, fishy, bracing air of Newfoundland.... Absorbing and thick with detail....as rich and sustaining as a figgy duff.” —The Gazette (Montreal)

“The Titanic looms large, but family dynamics in outport Newfoundland is Joan Clark’s real subject. Fictionally evoking vanished communities and a disappearing way of life can’t restore them. But it can keep their memory — and their value — alive. Joan Clark accomplishes that and more in this skillful blend of family saga and historical epic.” —The Toronto Star

“[Latitudes of Melt has] wonderful moments of clarity and transcendence, but never loses sight of what an ordinary life is.” —Carol Shields

“Latitudes of Melt is rife with ethereal, transcendent imagery and writing…This book has the making of myth: huge landscapes, big events, the quest for family connection.” —Moira Dann, Globe and Mail, 18 November 2000

"This magical tale of a baby found floating on an ice pan ... will arouse the spirit and inflame the imagination.... A delicious brew of fiction and fantasy based in Newfoundland." —Sunday Telegram (St. John's)

"Latitudes of Melt is an epic novel, about one woman's mythic origins, about communities that divide and shift under the weight of time, and about the mysteries and constellations within the ice. A rewarding tale." —Peter Oliva

"A whimsical, lyrical novel from a writer who knows Newfoundland well and conjures it with grace." —Wayne Johnston

“Much of the novel’s unique beauty derives from defying classification. Equal parts mystery, history, geography, tall tale, reminiscence and myth, it’s perhaps most accurately called a love story…Latitudes of Melt is her finest achievement to date.” —Robert Reid, Kitchener-Waterloo Record, 4 November 2000

In this meandering tale of an extraordinary woman's life, Clark (Eriksdottir; Swimming Toward the Light) strives to give everyday existence a magical aura, with mixed results. The novel opens with a fantastic conceit: a baby in a basket on a piece of ice survives the sinking of the Titanic and is discovered by a kindly Newfoundland fisherman, Francis St. Croix. He dubs her Aurora because she is found "in a gleaming dawn," and she becomes part of the St. Croix family. Aurora is a delightfully quirky child, who seems to embody the unusual circumstances of her incredible journey. She has white hair, is never cold, gambols barefoot where others hesitate to tread, loves nature and has a special affinity for animals. The small community in the valley of the Drook, where the St. Croix family lives, looks upon her as of another world. Even Tom Mulloy, the man she comes to marry, sees her as "a fairy maid." The book shifts from Aurora's story to that of her children: Nancy, a headstrong woman who wants to be everything her mother isn't, and Stanley, a late bloomer who overcomes personal tragedy and retains his mother's passion for exploration, becoming a deep-sea-diving expert on ice. It is Nancy's daughter, Sheila, who unravels Aurora's mysterious past and links her to a family that set out on the Titanic for a new life in America. Clark captures the stark magnificence of Newfoundland and portrays a changing world as technology and civilization make indelible marks on a fading seafaring era. Labored prose and overdetailed storytelling weigh down the tale, but Aurora's story will please those with an interest in northerly lands and Titanic mythmaking. (Jan.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

"Joan Clark evokes the profound sense of place we associate with the best Canadian writing. Her writing exudes the salty, fishy, bracing air of Newfoundland.... Absorbing and thick with detail....as rich and sustaining as a figgy duff." -The Gazette (Montreal)

"The Titanic looms large, but family dynamics in outport Newfoundland is Joan Clark's real subject. Fictionally evoking vanished communities and a disappearing way of life can't restore them. But it can keep their memory - and their value - alive. Joan Clark accomplishes that and more in this skillful blend of family saga and historical epic." -The Toronto Star

"[Latitudes of Melt has] wonderful moments of clarity and transcendence, but never loses sight of what an ordinary life is." -Carol Shields

"Latitudes of Melt is rife with ethereal, transcendent imagery and writing...This book has the making of myth: huge landscapes, big events, the quest for family connection." -Moira Dann, Globe and Mail, 18 November 2000

"This magical tale of a baby found floating on an ice pan ... will arouse the spirit and inflame the imagination.... A delicious brew of fiction and fantasy based in Newfoundland." -Sunday Telegram (St. John's)

"Latitudes of Melt is an epic novel, about one woman's mythic origins, about communities that divide and shift under the weight of time, and about the mysteries and constellations within the ice. A rewarding tale." -Peter Oliva

"A whimsical, lyrical novel from a writer who knows Newfoundland well and conjures it with grace." -Wayne Johnston

"Much of the novel's unique beauty derives from defying classification. Equal parts mystery, history, geography, tall tale, reminiscence and myth, it's perhaps most accurately called a love story...Latitudes of Melt is her finest achievement to date." -Robert Reid, Kitchener-Waterloo Record, 4 November 2000