In the late nineteenth century, the harsh yet beautiful wind-swept peaks and ocean channels of Tierra del Fuego are home to Ihtamak, a Yahgan Indian shaman fighting to protect her clan from encroaching disease and death. Using her knowledge of the natural and spirit worlds, a deepening connection to a looming animal presence guides her to fateful decisions that may determine the fate of her people. Two centuries later, Fen Marshal is a still-young man in a chaotic modern world laced with conflict and violence. During a harrowing evacuation of refugees from a war zone, his life is upended by the rescue of a silent refugee girl of unknown origin, Metis. Years later, he meets a Chilean man of Yahgan descent who claims to be in contact with a mysterious whale spirit. The man's presence seems to trigger unusual behavior in Metis. Is there a connection between the two strangers? The natural landscapes and rules of Ihtamak's past world and the chaotic and human-centered ones of Fen's present seem destined to collide with shattering consequences. Singh's debut novel spans four continents and two centuries, exploring themes of extinction, evolution, conflict, and morality in a work of literary fiction with a post-humanist sensibility and an insistent undertow of magical realism.
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