Eastern Passage

Mowat, a well-known Canadian writer, naturalist, and activist, has written extensively on indigenous peoples, destruction of natural habitats, and nuclear scandals. In this difficult memoir, he looks back to the late ‘40s and early ‘50s, when he was a struggling young writer. Those familiar with Mowat's body of work will be thrilled by his recounting of the difficulties he had getting published and the privations he and his wife faced early on. They will also likely be shocked to learn of an American nuclear explosion that occurred in Quebec's Saguenay river, an event kept quiet by both governments for some time. Mowat has tremendous facility with language, but he approaches his life story with a rough and tumble stream of consciousness style that will be difficult to follow for new readers. (Oct. 12)