WHITE BIRD BLACK BIRD

Sprawling saga draws on the real-life culture clash between aboriginal Northern Canadians and resource-hungry land developers.

Dedicated, young Toronto cub reporter Warren Pritchard loves his craft, but after a hurricane sweeps through the region, he takes stock of his life in the quaint town of Weston. Deciding a change of scenery might provide professional purpose and a fresh start–and stem a ballooning alcohol habit–Warren heads north to Yellowknife in Arctic Canada, commissioned to form a territorial-wide radio news service. However, this happens amid a hotbed of political controversy involving oil pipelines and racial unrest between native Inuit citizens and “rival government agencies, struggling to control the human and natural resources of the north.” Warren becomes embroiled in the turmoil along with “political fixer” Dougie Green, a straight-laced, two-year veteran of the never-ending controversy, awash in rumors and small-town gossip. As his mission becomes more and more personal, Warren explores his environs, meeting many quirky locals while picking up information to craft a well-balanced article on the palpable racial tension in Yellowknife and the trouble surrounding its impending gentrification and industrial development. A good-natured priest educates Warren on the dangers of pipeline expansion and how it affects the indigenous people nearby just as a regional supervisor for the impending construction butts heads with a grassroots Native-rights movement. But it’s Cindy–a Native Indian woman from the Hare tribe–who steals Warren’s heart. A violent shooting and a politically-motivated kidnapping preface a somewhat surprising, unorthodox conclusion. While Wake, a former journalist, excels in cultivating an authentic sense of place (he spent four years living in the Canadian Arctic region), his 500-plus page narrative is verbose and becomes weighed down with the expounding details and melodrama of his character’s machinations–altruistic or otherwise.

A harmless distraction with philanthropic overtones in need of edits.