Mary-Anne Neal

Under the Midnight Sun Mary-Anne Neal

This powerful first-hand account of a transformative summer with Canada's First People follows a young woman's journey to the far North. Alone and vulnerable, the spirited teenager overcomes formidable obstacles to achieve her dream of living with the Dene in a remote bush camp. Her heart is broken when a romance with a Dene man is cut short and she is sent back to the city. Echoes of those forbidden bonds forged under the midnight sun haunt the author of this true story for decades. Fifty years later, a chance meeting catapults the grandmother and educator back into the lives of the Sahtu Dene. Reconnecting with her lost love, the author discovers that he has kept her memory alive. They piece together fragments of that summer's events, uncovering complex factors at play between young men and women during the 1970s. The Arctic wilderness is the spectacular backdrop for this story of Dene romance, culture and philosophy as experienced in the light of the midnight sun.