This typescript is a fascinating glimpse into the mind of the author, as it shows the creative process with a paragraph being reworked and rewritten on the page. Both pages are illuminated with Farley's idiosyncrasies, original creative spelling and manuscript corrections making them a fine addition to any collection of literature and a great memento of an eminent and much loved Canadian author.
The book challenges the conventional wisdom that the Vikings were the first Europeans to reach northern Canada. Based on over thirty years of research into evidence of a seafaring pre-Viking 'Alban' people. Farley skillfully weaves fictional vignettes of Alban life into his thoughtful reconstruction of a forgotten history. This startlingly compelling narrative, confirms Mowat's status as one of Canada's master storytellers to a degree that is still controversial among historians.
Elsewhere on our site we offer a very rare 1652 antique map which actually shows a settlement of ‘Alba’ in East Greenland, documentary proof that Farley's contention was perhaps based in fact??