This Land of Snow: A Journey Across the North in Winter

Anders Morley, MLitt 2004

In clear and lyrical prose, This Land of Snow tells the story of one man's journey on foot across a half-wild country during the harshest season of the year.

Anders Morley was happily married and living in an Italian city, thousands of miles from his rural New Hampshire roots, when he came across a photograph in a National Geographic magazine. It showed a man carrying his belongings on his back and picking his way across an icy mountain river with a well-used pair of cross-country skis in hand. The picture conjured a sense of physical suffering—which seemed almost to chide him for his present dolce vita—and struck a nostalgic chord. From then on, Morley dreamt of embarking on a quest of his own into the rugged world of winter—a world that in Italy had become little more than a memory.

Studying long-term snowfall patterns, he set his sights on Canada and carefully planned his journey by reading, writing emails, and poring over maps. Finally, in November of 2013, Morley walked away from life as he knew it and set off, alone, into an unknown land of snow.

What follows is not just an evocation of the stark and beautiful boreal forest of northern Canada. It is also a personal meditation on what winter can teach us about being alive and human, as well as an exploration of the relationship human beings have to the rest of the natural world and, finally, to each other.

Interspersed with lively characters, a wry sense of humour, and stunning descriptions, This Land of Snow thoughtfully traces the dichotomy between setting out on a winter's journey and finding one’s way home through the blizzards of adult existence.

ISBN: 978-1-68051-272-4