In the late nineteenth century, the harsh yet beautiful wind-swept peaks and
ocean channels of Tierra del Fuego are home to Ihtamak, a Yahgan Indian
shaman fighting to protect her clan from encroaching disease and death.
Using her knowledge of the natural and spirit worlds, a deepening connection
to a looming animal presence guides her to fateful decisions that may
determine the fate of her people.
Two centuries later, Fen Marshal is a still-young man in a chaotic modern
world laced with conflict and violence. During a harrowing evacuation of
refugees from a war zone, his life is upended by the rescue of a silent refugee
girl of unknown origin, Metis. Years later, he meets a Chilean man of Yahgan
descent who claims to be in contact with a mysterious whale spirit. The man's
presence seems to trigger unusual behavior in Metis. Is there a connection
between the two strangers? The natural landscapes and rules of Ihtamak's past
world and the chaotic and human-centered ones of Fen's present seem destined
to collide with shattering consequences.
Singh's debut novel spans four continents and two centuries, exploring themes
of extinction, evolution, conflict, and morality in a work of literary fiction with
a post-humanist sensibility and an insistent undertow of magical realism.
