Thomas G. (TOMIJO54) reviewed on 8/10/2011

Helpful Score: 4

The author does take a long time in the back story; nearly half the book is dedicated to telling the story of the scientific expedition that brought the mapmaker and his wife together in the first place. But, as a lover of both science and history, I found that part of the narrative thoroughly engaging and well paced. While I have encountered short descriptions of the French expedition in other contexts, I learned much more from the detailed and lively account this book gives. In fact, the book has inspired me to look for other accounts as well.
What is remarkable from a modern standpoint is the realization of how much these people and so many others like them who were and are pioneers and explorers endured and suffered to reach their individual goals, whether scientific or personal. We do not, in this remarkably comfortable age, have anywhere near the concept of determination, courage, and sacrifice as did these men and women. This was life lived on its sharpest most bitter edge against awesome odds for incredible stakes. And our world knowledge today rests squarely on their shoulders.
Equally compelling is the depth of love and bond that drove both Jean and Isabel to such lengths in the hope of reuniting after so long a separation. After reading this book, the words of Hawkeye in Michael Mann's The Last of the Mohicans, seem so hollow. "I will find you!" he says and does so after a few days of hard running. No mean feat I suppose, but Isabel Grameson makes those words resound from a nearly bottomless heart of desire and tenacity, her very lack of jungle skills making her achievement that much more remarkable. This is a book I will keep.

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