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I was hoping to listen to an audiobook of this on the long drive to/from Arizona this weekend, but unfortunately Audible won't sell it in the US region. Very frustrating! Every time I logged in to Audible, the book disappeared from the catalog. So I guess I'll be reading a physical copy. I figure I'll order it on Amazon tonight, though the shipping will be slow.

Does anyone have any tips on ways to get it faster or better? I didn't do an exhaustive library search, but I checked the library closest to me, and they don't have it either.

My local library has an option on their website to suggest books to purchase and allows 5 per week. If you don't have this option, perhaps you can try requesting a copy from your library? There may be a copy available in another branch or they can purchase it. It won't be very fast, though.

Thanks Nancy!

I think tonight I'll do both - order a copy from Amazon and also apply for an inter-library loan. Neither will necessarily be quick, but I'll have two chances that way. Hopefully one of them will come within the next 2-3 weeks.

I'm going to request a copy from my library as well. I'm sure it will be published in the US eventually.

Good luck, Greg!

I made a loan request through WorldCat and when the message came back that it was too new to loan, my library decided to purchase it. It's funny that this option is so popular!

I finished this last night. I thought it was quite good (it got me fairly emotional) and had really well-developed characters. I like where Gale got his inspiration from, and I appreciate the research he did. The inclusion of native culture and beliefs was especially interesting. I'll put the rest under the spoiler tag.

(view spoiler)[I have a few minor complaints, and I was wondering if anyone else felt the same.

1) Harry's relationship with Browning came out of nowhere. Harry didn't speak of being attracted to men until after Browning had already come on to him. I realize it may be different for everyone, but, I was sexually inexperienced up until I was an adult, but I knew (and told my mother) at twelve that I was attracted to both boys and girls. I have to say that, on the positive side, I really appreciated how the relationship ended and how Harry's feelings were portrayed.

2) I realize this is GLBT fiction, but, if you sit, count, and sort the male speaking characters, nearly half are not straight. Representation is great, I love it, but disproportionate representation pulls me out of stories, especially historical fiction. I did, however, greatly appreciate Gale's attention to period details when he described Paul's previous intimate friendship as going "too far." It very much reminded me of this great post on the history of male affection I read.

3) Ursula/Little Bear's fate in particular crushed me. There was a lot of stuff that made me very sad (Jack and George, Grace, Petra...) but Ursula's story killed my soul. (hide spoiler)]

Who's reading?

Still waiting for my copy to arrive, though it was supposed to arrive last week; so it should get here soon

I have it on my to-read list, but I haven't gotten there yet.

It finally arrived yesterday - I'll start this weekend.

Started last night - not bad so far, just underway though .. in chapter 3 now. The language is simple and straightforward, but I'm intrigued to find out the narrator's backstory.

Some minor, momentary confusion in the first chapter with the sequence of flash-forwards & flash-backs. I assume when he (view spoiler)[wakes up in the wood-lined cabin, that's a flash-forward to Bethel sandwiched between two scenes at the sanitarium, followed by Bethel again. (hide spoiler)]

more than 50% through and really enjoying this story and interested in the main character. .....only observation was the home situation felt rushed through. ...however this is the first Gale book I have managed to get into and enjoy

I'm in chapter 15 now. I've been taking this slow since I've been reading a few other books at the same time. I do like it, but the story didn't really start to grab me until (view spoiler)[Harry meets Mr Browning (hide spoiler)]. There's interesting variety in the sorts of relationships, the (view spoiler)[purely physical fling with Mr Browning that Harry misinterprets as more because he's so lonely, the violent, disconnected sex with Troels that makes him feel debased. (hide spoiler)] Given the time frame and Harry's lack of options, it's believable he falls into these situations. I'm curious to see what's going on at Bethel too - for the time frame, what the book hints at the end of 12 (view spoiler)[and the whole Bethel setup seems extremely dangerous for Dr Ormshaw .. curious to see more of his story going forward. (hide spoiler)]

I felt the same way at first Don, but the story finally started to grab me in chapter 8 and then even more so starting in the wherebouts of chapter 11. Now, I'm almost 3/4 through.

Just finished!

At first it was a bit slow, but starting around chapter 8, the story fully engaged me. I was interested in the characters, and I enjoyed some of the details of settler life as well as of the Cree. I was deeply moved by the story as well. I liked it, but ....

My only complaint: the characters didn't feel off to me, but they didn't exactly feel spot-on either. For one thing, they didn't have much of a period feel. Their inner lives didn't have the slightly foreign feel that fully realized characters of another era usually should - more 21st century at their core really.

Storywise, the expected external behaviors were mostly there, but I missed the inner contortions. Many revelations that should've pulsed with power felt a bit lifeless because they didn't have the internal buildup, the dark twists of consciousness that accumulate force until they break surface and express themselves in inevitable actions. The story didn't have that feel of inevitability that I usually find in the most penetrating fictions.

For instance, as (view spoiler)[Paul and Harry first come together, it was sexy but there wasn't much power ... all of the history we'd discovered in the past couple hundred pages wasn't really expressed, no sense of accumulated darkness in their coupling. They must be singularly unimaginative people to have little trace of all the horrible things that had occurred beyond the timidity a healthy teenager nowadays might still feel. It fell a bit flat. (hide spoiler)]

So overall an entertaining read but not quite revelatory. Definitely worth reading though.

Perhaps I'm a bit spoiled because I just finished Giovanni's Room, and that book was steeped in bone-deep psychological understanding, stepping from revelation to revelation, deeply rooted in the period the characters inhabited.

Also Kit, I 100% agree with #2 in your spoiler .. comes across a bit silly. And I think #1 in your spoiler dovetails with some of my concerns as well .. very little internal buildup to the action of the story.