Inspired by his impending 50th birthday, author Howard Frank Mosher decided to set out across the U.S.-Canadian border in search of the source of the uniqueness which defines the North Country, to "search out what remained of the rest of America's northernmost frontiers."
Mosher, who lives in Vermont, has written several books set in his native state, including "Disappearances," "Where the Rivers Flow North" and "A Stranger in the Kingdom," which convey his passion for the spirit of the North Country.
Mosher's narrative of the North Country reads as quickly and as enjoyably as his previous novels. Mosher writes in a beautiful prose style that reflects the rugged beauty of the northern landscape, and which has come to be a hallmark of all of his writings.
But it is Mosher's choice to view this journey as "one of exuberance and affirmation rather than lament" which truly propels the work. Despite numerous abandoned homes and decayed towns, Mosher focuses on the people of the North Country and the stories that they have to tell in an effort to hold on to their sense of place.
These are small, quiet towns he finds his way into. Like many writers before him, Mosher finds inspiration in the stories of everyday people. He finds more history and color in an old man's musing than in any history book.
Collecting stories along the border like an archeologist delicately gathering and preserving pottery shards, Mosher encounters an eclectic cast of people who exhibit the philosophy of the North Country, including game wardens, a bush pilot in Maine and an unsettling Montana survivalist who gazes as Mosher fishes for trout.
This North Country philosophy -- a mixture of self-reliance and suspicion of the governments on each side of the border -- is what sets these people apart, Mosher writes.
One of the first anecdotes of "North Country," a conversation over an ice cold beer with Elisha, a fisherman from Lubec, Maine is typical of this North Country ethos.
"Above all," Elisha states, "we wants to work for ourselves. Us are the stubbornest people on the face of the earth, which we've had to be to survive at all. And unless the high tide washes Lubec right out to sea, I expect we'll be right here hanging on onto this old rock and being stubborn for a long time to come."
As Mosher tells us, it is his own sense of independence -- an independence instilled by his family -- that has drawn him to the North Country. So it is no surprise when we find him discussing politics and everyday life with the citizens of the Madawaska Republic, or "the Louisiana of the North" as the locals like to call it.
This "Republic," as we learn from Mosher, was conceived by dispossessed Acadians who had settled in Canada. Mosher meets an "Old-time" Acadian, who demonstrates his determination by describing an incident where he grew potatoes (after three years of hard work) on a spot where everyone said it could not be done.
The man closes his conversation with Mosher by telling him, "We'll render unto Washington and Ottawa and Augusta and Frederickton what's rightfully theirs, but not one speck of tribute more."
Mosher's "North Country" is not merely about places or people, but the interaction between them, and, most importantly, it is about the author.
The subtitle of this work is not to be taken lightly. In the pages of "North Country," Mosher introduces us to some of the most interesting people of the world who chose to live in some of the most rugged and exquisute places in the world.
But the reader also has the pleasure of being introduced to the powerful characters in Mosher's life, and how those people have affected him and influenced his writings, and Mosher even shows us some of his own no-bull philosophy, such as when he nails a rejection letter to his barn and blasts "the living hell out of it" with his shotgun.
This approach to writing is typical of Mosher, but not in the least redundant. Mosher's works focus on the people that inhabit them. This style brings a freshness and amiable quality to his stories, stories which are written in the clean style of the American story, a style and a work for which Mosher should earn the highest of praise.
