Why read The Curve of Time?

Book cover of The Curve of Time: The Classic Memoir of a Woman and Her Children Who Explored the Coastal Waters of the Pacific Northwest

Book description

After her husband died in 1927, leaving her with five small children, everyone expected the struggles of single motherhood on a remote island to overcome M. Wylie Blanchet. Instead, this courageous woman became one of the pioneers of "family travel," acting as both mother and captain of the twenty-five-foot boat…

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Why read it?

2 authors picked The Curve of Time as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Mark Doherty

Author

As I read M. Wylie Blanchet’s book, I myself was transported through time to one of the most magical and beautiful places in North America—the islands, bays, fjords, and estuaries of British Columbia.

In addition to being right on the water and immersed in the great forests, I was also, like her young children, at school, constantly learning new things about history, culture, ecology, philosophy, and even seamanship! The lively dialogue also made me feel like one of the family, conversing easily as we explored a land that was at that time, very sparsely populated by humanity.

Throughout the book,…

From Mark's list on The best creative nonfiction books that entertain and teach through threaded essays and stories.

Kim Brown Seely

Author

The Curve of Time is a Northwest classic of coastal cruising.

It’s a marvelous book with an almost dreamlike quality by a woman who, left a widow in 1927, packs her five children onto a 25-foot motor launch and explores the complex waters of British Columbia summer after summer. Blanchet's account of their unstructured days in Desolation Sound reads almost like fiction, but her adventures are all very real.

From Kim's list on The best books for sailors, sea adventurers, and romantics at heart.