Love's Northern Flight

Mary Kowaliski, second year teacher from an affluent family in the Chicago area, has ventured from this opulent society to teach in Barrow, Alaska a large Inuit village in the heart of the frozen arctic. The cultural shock she experiences- unfamiliar vocabulary (muckluks, parka, cheechaako, mutuk) climate changes (well below zero tempetures, lack of sunlight) living conditions (honey buckets, spasmodic showers, and many more physical impediments) propels her on a dogsled ride of emotional ups and downs.

Her social life is restricted to a few available men, Pete Pederson and Buster Points top the short list, but Buster’s involvement in the illicit ivory trade further complicates her beleaguered mind. The isolation in the white wilderness plays upon her, cabin fever besets her.
One consolation is her hutmate, Sharon, who helps Mary understand the arctic- its climate,its social tenants, its barren topography,its lack of contact with her outside world- will Sharon’s help be enough for her to return for a second year and possibly find real happiness at the top of the world.