The Bear
By (Author) Claire Cameron
Vintage Publishing
Vintage
2nd January 2015
United Kingdom
General
Fiction
813.6
Long-listed for Womens Prize for Fiction 2014 (UK)
Paperback
304
Width 129mm, Height 198mm, Spine 19mm
221g
Mummy never yells. Mostly not ever. Except sometimes. Longlisted for the Women's Fiction Prize Mummy never yells. Mostly not ever. Except sometimes. Anna is five. Her little brother, Stick, is almost three. They are camping with their parents in Algonquin Park, in three thousand square miles of wilderness. It's the perfect family trip. But then Anna awakes in the night to the sound of something moving in the shadows. Her father is terrified. Her mother is screaming. Then, silence. Alone in the woods, it is Anna who has to look after Stick, battling hunger and the elements to stay alive. Narrated by Anna, this is white-knuckle storytelling that captures the fear, wonder and bewilderment of our worst nightmares - and the power of one girl's enduring love for her family.
Bold...shocking...distinctive...the reward is striking images that stick in the mind, a blend of Anna's interpretations of events and the reader's imagination. It was even more haunting the second time around * Independent *
Stylistically impressive and deeply moving * Glamour *
A taut and touching story of how a childs love and denial become survival skills -- Charlotte Rogan, author of The Lifeboat
This expertly crafted novel could do for camping what Jaws did for swimming.This agonizing odyssey of loss and being lost also has humorThe books anguished yet hopeful ending provides a touching terminus for Anna and Sticks journey to adulthood * People *
The Bear had me up all night... Claire Cameron is an absolute master * Herman Koch, Author of The Dinner *
Claire Cameron is a novelist and writer, whose work has appeared in the New York Times, Globe and Mail, and The Rumpus. She worked as a wilderness instructor for Outward Bound and in the early 1990s led canoe trips at a summer camp in Algonquin Park in Canada. This story is inspired by her experiences there. She now lives in Toronto with her husband and two children.