[A] cascade of a story, colored by sun and water and driven by courage and determination ... It’s not just the story but the way it’s told that matters here. Unlike those old-time newspaper reporters, Sevigny does not look at her subjects and see women out of place. She sees women doing their job and doing it well.
Highlights the little-known contributions two women made to our knowledge about the Southwest ecology. And it pays homage to a pair of scientists far ahead of their time.
As she brings both intriguing botanists vividly to life, Sevigny also captures the intensity of the expedition’s dangers and the seemingly miraculous ability of the scientists to collect and preserve 500 plant specimens, some new to science, under nearly impossible conditions while also doing all the cooking. A breath-catching, enlightening, and significant work of scientific, environmental, and women’s history.
Despite the subject matter, only a few black-and-white photos of plant specimens are included in this book ... Still, Sevigny paints a picture by describing other elements of the canyon journey ... When the narrative rapids slow, Sevigny leaves space to further speculate about the era, the people, the river, and the environment.
Marvelous ... Drawing on Clover and Jotter’s journals and letters, Sevigny recreates their expedition in novelistic detail, producing a narrative as propulsive as the current of the Colorado. Readers will be swept away.
