cover image Epic Solitude: A Story of Survival and a Quest for Meaning in the Far North

Epic Solitude: A Story of Survival and a Quest for Meaning in the Far North

Katherine Keith. Blackstone, $26.99 (320p) ISBN 978-1-5385-5704-4

An athlete and adventurer searches for peace and belonging in the Alaskan wilderness in this heartfelt memoir. Growing up in Minnesota, Keith dreamed of living off the grid in the Arctic and embraced a youth full of outdoor adventure. She was also abused as a child and developed bulimia, paranoia, cutting behavior, and suicidal thoughts; as an adult, she decided the only way to deal with the physical and mental pain was to embark on a “quest to Alaska to save my life.” In energetic prose, she tells of her recovery as she takes up dog sledding and revels in the hardships, solitude, and challenges of life on a remote camp and racing the Iditarod. Her spirits lift in 2015 when she meets a man named Dave and marries him. Continually searching out spiritual answers and well-being, Keith combines stories of her adventures with her experiences with peyote, sun dances, Buddhism, sweat lodges, and “soul retrievals” by a shaman, lending the story a feel of deep mysticism. This intense and uplifting treatise on self-exploration celebrates the resiliency of the human spirit. (Feb.)