A thrilling and propulsive novel of an Antarctica expedition gone
wrong and its far-reaching consequences for the explorers and their
families leaves the reader moved and subtly changed, as if she had
become part of the story (Hilary Mantel).
"McGregor's depiction of speechlessness, both metaphorical and
physical, makes the novel much more interesting than if he had provided
a page-turner about a botched expedition in Antarctica . . . McGregor's
carefully composed dialogue, filled with the repetition of so few words,
had an eerie effect on me: for several days my own inner dialogue was
often composed of the same words, as though I, too, was discovering how
they could express drastically different emotions yet remain unreadable
to the world. --Yiyun Li, New York Review of Books
Remember the training: find shelter or make shelter, remain in place,
establish contact with other members of the party, keep moving, keep
calm.
Robert 'Doc' Wright, a veteran of Antarctic surveying, was there on the
ice when the worst happened. He holds within him the complete story of
that night--but depleted by the disaster, Wright is no longer able to
communicate the truth. Instead, in the wake of the catastrophic
expedition, he faces the most daunting adventure of his life: learning a
whole new way to be in the world. Meanwhile Anna, his wife, must
suddenly scramble to navigate the sharp and unexpected contours of life
as a caregiver.
From the Booker Prize-longlisted, American Academy of Arts & Letters
Award-winning author of Reservoir 13, this is a novel every bit as
mesmerizing as its setting. Tenderly unraveling different notions of
heroism through the rippling effects of one extraordinary expedition on
an ordinary family, Lean Fall Stand explores the indomitable human
impulse to turn our experiences into stories--even when the words may
fail us.
