Alissa York’s past novels include the internationally acclaimed Mercy, Effigy (shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize) and Fauna. She is also the author of the short fiction collection, Any Given Power, stories from which have won the Journey Prize and the Bronwen Wallace Award. Her essays and articles have appeared in The Guardian, The Globe and Mail and Canadian Geographic among others. York’s interest in the natural world permeates her work, and earlier in her life she once considered a career in zoology or biology. Born in Athabasca, Alberta, York has lived all over Canada and now resides in Toronto with her husband, artist Clive Holden.

The Naturalist

Set in the time when Darwin was reshaping the world and a new breed of explorer-hero possessed the popular imagination, The Naturalist is a spellbinding tale of loss, discovery and love. In 1867, Philadelphia, Walter Ash is on the brink of a long-awaited return expedition to the Amazon when he dies in an accident, obliging his only son to take his place. More at ease among his books than in the field, Paul Ash takes a reluctant leave of absence from Harvard’s Museum of Comparative Zoology to accompany his grieving stepmother and her young companion to the fabled River Sea. Paul holds no memory of the place even though he was born there, but neither the region nor its people have forgotten Paul.