A work of nonfiction in which James Rebanks reflects on a life-changing summer spent on a remote island off the coast of Norway, where his only [companions were two women] who practiced the ancient tradition of collecting eiderdown from birds that nest on this landscape each year.
As in his previous books, his prose is simple and clear, his depictions of nature gorgeous ... Rebanks considers The Place of Tides—while nonfiction—to be a sort of fable, and the legends he includes add to that flavor ... This book, and Anna’s life, are inspiring in their simplicity, fortitude and elegance. Her example, Rebanks says, is profound.
Rebanks continues his thoughtful meditation on the old ways ... As a tribute to a little-known tradition that may soon disappear, this is a lovely book, almost dreamlike in its lulling rhythms ... All this stillness could be deadening in lesser hands, but Rebanks carries the reader through with his humor and elegant prose ... However, the real animating force of this book is Anna Måsøy, who emerges as a stubborn, spiky figure with an almost religious zeal for her unusual labor ... Next to Anna, Rebanks himself tends to slip out of focus, and this becomes a problem in The Place of Tides ... The terms of Rebanks’s discontent remain frustratingly vague, even as he claims to be transformed by his time on Fjaerøy ... He is oddly reluctant to divulge specifics, so his personal journey is never entirely satisfying as a subplot ... Still, there is much to appreciate in this gentle, delicate book, which flows and ebbs like the tide.
In simple storytelling cadences, Rebanks braids Anna’s story with vivid evocations of waves cresting like “white horses above the green-blue ocean” and lashing rains that trap him, restless and homesick, for days on end in their small cabin, which sleeps three but has no running water ... Tender, contemplative ... The Place of Tides washes over readers gently, refreshing us with its moving portrait of a quietly purposeful way of life.
