Afterlands - Tapa dura

It is 1871 and a thwarted voyage across uncharted waters to plant the American flag at the North Pole has cast nineteen survivors adrift on an ice floe off the coast of Greenland. Afterlands is the story of this small society of castaways - one white and one black American, five Germans, a Dane, a Swede, an Englishman, and two Inuit families - as they struggle with the elements and, increasingly, with each other. While suffering the deadly hardships of cold and hunger, they succumb to equally destructive suspicions, mutiny, hunger-induced delusions and unrequited longings, and their ordeal is one that will cast a shadow over the rest of their lives . . . Based on a true story and suffusing the drama of Arctic survival with a harrowing psychological intensity, Afterlands is a gripping, beautiful novel that explores allegiance and betrayal, the sacrifices needed for survival, and the ultimate cost of loyalty.

Steven Heighton is one of Canada's most highly acclaimed young writers. He is the author of the novel The Shadow Boxer; two short story collections, Flight Paths of the Emperor and On earth as it is, and four poetry collections. His work has been translated into eight languages. He lives in Kingston, Ontario.