A fight for survival. April 1943. In the bloody turmoil of war, John Easley, a journalist mourning his lost brother, is driven to expose a hidden and growing conflict: the Japanese invasion and occupation of Alaska's Aleutian Islands. But when his plane is shot down he must either surrender or struggle to survive in a harsh wilderness. A search for the truth. Three thousand miles to the south, Helen Easley cannot accept her husband's disappearance--an absence that exposes her sheltered, untested life. Desperate to find and be reunited with him, she sets out on a remarkable journey from the safety of her Seattle home to the war in the north. A love story like no other. An evocative, richly atmospheric tale of life and death, commitment and sacrifice, The Wind Is Not a River, perfect for fans of Cold Mountain, is a gripping story of survival that illuminates the fragility of life and the fierce power of love. 'Beautifully written, lyrical and elegiac, The Wind Is Not A River is a novel you must read ...John Easley's struggle to survive and his wife Helen's struggle to find him form the most triumphant and heartbreaking love story I've read in years' David Vann, author of LEGEND OF A SUICIDE
'Part adventure tale, part love story, this beautifully written novel offers a moving portrait of a couple whose lives are forever changed by the only battle of WWII to take place on American soil ... Payton, in the loveliest of prose, illuminates a little-known aspect of WWII while portraying a devoted couple who bravely face down the isolation, pain, and sacrifice of wartime' Booklist
'The Wind Is Not a River is a harrowing, beautiful book. Whether Payton is describing a journalist's bleak ordeals of survival in the Japanese-held Aleutian Islands or a USO showgirl's efforts to sing an unfamiliar tune, his taut, economic prose establishes a compelling intimacy with his subjects. On the bookshelf of World War II novels, Payton's can sit confidently beside Norman Mailer's The Naked and the Dead' David Macfarlane, author of Summer Gone
'This top-notch WWII historical novel from Vancouver-based writer Payton involves the little-remembered Japanese invasion and partial occupation of Alaska's Aleutian Islands ... Payton has delivered a richly detailed, vividly resonant chronicle of war's effect on ordinary people's lives' Publishers Weekly
'What a great-hearted, beautifully written, and utterly riveting novel. The Wind Is Not a River has a power that brings to mind the old Greek stories of war, love, and journey' Ron Rash
'Payton knows how the brutality and horror of war scar the human spirit and the power and tenderness of love sustain it. In this lyric and deeply moving novel, he connects the two with imagination and brio. The Wind Is Not a River is a heart-stopping, heart-rending read' Ellen Feldman, Orange Prize shortlisted author of Scotsboro, Next to Love and The Boy Who Loved Anne Frank
Author
About Brian Payton
Brian Payton has written for the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, and Boston Globe. He lives with his wife in Vancouver.
