Safe from the Sea-Peter Geye

Safe from the Sea
Peter Geye
Unbridled, Sep 28 2010, $24.95
ISBN: 9781609530082

Thirty-five years ago, a tragedy on Lake Superior changed their lives forever, estranging father and son. Now Noah, encouraged by his wife Natalie, is returning to Misquah, Minnesota to see his dad for the first time in what seems like forever.

Noah is unsure what type of reception he will receive but expects it will be colder than the winter weather. Instead he is stunned to see how old and sick his father appears. Dying, Olaf who hid what happened on the ore boat three and half decades ago decides it is time to tell his son the truth that has haunted him as one of the few survivors.

Safe From The Sea is an engaging character driven saga in which an estranged father and son bond when Olaf tells Noah what happened on that tragic day. The entertaining story line contains other back-stories including Noah’s look at his marriage as well as Olaf relating other sea adventures. Although a father and son bonding as adults is not new (see the nonfiction The Bond: Three Young Men Learn to Forgive and Reconnect with Their Fathers by Davis, Jenkins and Hunt, and the fiction Gilead by Marilynne Robinson), Peter Geye provides an enjoyable brisk tale.

Harriet Klausner