Brian Payton

A gripping tale of survival and an epic love story in which a husband and wife–separated by the only battle of World War II to take place on American soil–fight to reunite in Alaska's starkly beautiful Aleutian Islands Following the death of his younger brother in Europe, journalist John Easley is determined to find meaning in his loss, to document some part of the growing war that claimed his own flesh and blood. Leaving behind his beloved wife, Helen, after an argument they both regret, he heads north from Seattle to investigate the Japanese invasion of Alaska's Aleutian Islands, a story censored by the U.S. government. While John is accompanying a crew on a bombing run, his plane is shot down over the island of Attu. He survives only to find himself exposed to a harsh and unforgiving wilderness, known as "the Birthplace of Winds." There, John must battle the elements, starvation, and his own remorse while evading discovery by the Japanese. Alone in their home three thousand miles to the south, Helen struggles with the burden of her husband's disappearance. Caught in extraordinary circumstances, in this new world of the missing, she is forced to reimagine who she is–and what she is capable of doing. Somehow, she must find John and bring him home, a quest that takes her into the farthest reaches of the war, beyond the safety of everything she knows. A powerful, richly atmospheric story of life and death, commitment and sacrifice, The Wind Is Not a River illuminates the fragility of life and the fierce power of love.

The Wind Is Not a River

travels in vanishing wilderness

Shadow of the bear

A True Story of Ambition, Disaster, and Endurance in the Arctic Wilderness

The Ice Passage

Islas Aleutianas, 1943. Tras la muerte de su hermano menor en Europa, el periodista John Easley siente la necesidad de exponer un oculto y creciente conflicto: la invasión japonesa y la ocupación de las islas Aleutianas de Alaska. Pero cuando John acompaña a la tripulación de un bombardero, el avión es derribado sobre la isla de Attu, y deberá rendirse o sobrevivir en un entorno cruel. A tres mil kilómetros al sur, su mujer Helen no puede aceptar la desaparición de su marido. Desesperada por encontrarlo y reunirse con él, se embarcará en un extraordinario viaje desde la seguridad de su casa de Seattle hasta los confines de la guerra del norte.

El Viento No Es Un Rio

Novela conmovedora, bellamente escrita y fascinante. • Una historia sobre los límites del espíritu humano y el poder del amor duradero. • John Easley y Helen Easley nos recuerdan las antiguas historias griegas, amor y viajes. Islas Aleutianas, 1943. Tras la muerte de su hermano menor en Europa, el periodista John Easley siente la necesidad de exponer un oculto y creciente conflicto: la invasión japonesa y la ocupación de las islas Aleutianas de Alaska. Pero cuando John acompaña a la tripulación de un bombardero, el avión es derribado sobre la isla de Attu, y deberá rendirse o sobrevivir en un entorno cruel. A tres mil kilómetros al sur, su mujer Helen no puede aceptar la desaparición de su marido. Desesperada por encontrarlo y reunirse con él, se embarcará en un extraordinario viaje desde la seguridad de su casa de Seattle hasta los confines de la guerra del norte. Historia evocadora, ricamente ambientada, de la vida y la muerte, el compromiso y el sacrificio. El viento no es un río ilustra la fragilidad de la vida y el intenso poder del amor.

El viento no es un río

The Wind Is Not a River is Brian Payton's gripping tale of survival and an epic love story in which a husband and wife—separated by the only battle of World War II to take place on American soil—fight to reunite in Alaska's starkly beautiful Aleutian Islands. Following the death of his younger brother in Europe, journalist John Easley is determined to find meaning in his loss. Leaving behind his beloved wife, Helen, he heads north to investigate the Japanese invasion of Alaska's Aleutian Islands, a story censored by the U.S. government. While John is accompanying a crew on a bombing run, his plane is shot down over the island of Attu. He survives only to find himself exposed to a harsh and unforgiving wilderness, known as “the birthplace of winds.” There, John must battle the elements, starvation, and his own remorse while evading discovery by the Japanese. Alone at home, Helen struggles with the burden of her husband's disappearance. Caught in extraordinary circumstances, in this new world of the missing, she is forced to reimagine who she is—and what she is capable of doing. Somehow, she must find John and bring him home, a quest that takes her into the farthest reaches of the war, beyond the safety of everything she knows.

A Novel

A stunning tale of love and survival against all odds, for fans of Cold Mountain. Published in hardback as The Wind Is Not a River. April 1943. In the bloody turmoil of war, John Easley, a journalist mourning his lost brother, is driven to expose a hidden and growing conflict: the Japanese invasion and occupation of Alaska's Aleutian Islands. But when his plane is shot down he must either surrender or struggle to survive in a harsh wilderness. Three thousand miles to the south, Helen Easley cannot accept her husband's disappearance-an absence that exposes her sheltered, untested life. Desperate to find and be reunited with him, she sets out on a remarkable journey from the safety of her Seattle home to the war in the north. An evocative, richly atmospheric tale of life and death, commitment and sacrifice, All This Will Be Lost, perfect for fans of Cold Mountain, is a gripping story of survival that illuminates the fragility of life and the fierce power of love. 'Beautifully written, lyrical and elegiac, [this] is a novel you must read . . . John Easley's struggle to survive and his wife Helen's struggle to find him form the most triumphant and heartbreaking love story I've read in years' David Vann, author of LEGEND OF A SUICIDE

All This Will Be Lost

A thrilling account of suffering and survival, The Ice Passage charts an epic quest from desire to destiny. It begins as a mission of mercy. Four and a half years after the disappearance of Arctic explorer Sir John Franklin and his two ships, HMS Investigator sets sail in search of them. Instead of rescuing lost comrades, the Investigator’s officers and crew soon find themselves trapped in their own ordeal, facing starvation, madness, and death on the unknown Polar Sea. If only they can save themselves, they will bring back news of perhaps the greatest maritime achievement of the age: their discovery of the elusive Northwest Passage between Europe and the Orient. In addition to their Great Success, the “Investigators” are the first Europeans to contact the Inuit of the western Arctic archipelago, and the first to record sustained observations of the local wildlife and climate. But the cost of hubris, ignorance, daring, and deceit is soon laid bare. In the face of catastrophe, a desperate rescue plan is made to send away the weakest men to meet their fate on the ice. In a narrative rich with insight and grace, Brian Payton reconstructs the final voyage of the Investigator and the trials of her officers and crew. Drawing on long-forgotten journals, transcripts, and correspondence — some never before published — Payton weaves an astonishing tale of endurance. Along the way, he vividly evokes an Arctic wilderness we now stand to lose.

Taut, compelling, and remarkably assured, Hail Mary Corner thrusts readers into unfamiliar territory past an emotional frontier we all must cross: the uncertain ground between adolescence and adulthood. High on a cliff above a pulp-mill town on Vancouver Island, sixteen-year-old Bill MacAvoy and his friends lead cloistered lives while other boys their age run free. it may be the fall of 1982, but inside the walls of their Benedictine seminary they inhabit a medieval world steeped in ritual and discipline–a place where blackrobed monks move like shadows between doubt and faith. Isolated from the outside, Bill and his friends develop a unique and often hilarious culture. Schooled in the virtues of sacrifice and service, they instead learn to challenge, resist, and wield power over one another’s lives. On the road to certain expulsion, Bill discovers two secrets: one concerns Brother Thomas, the monk who watches his every move; the other involves his best friend, Jon. In Bill’s hands these secrets prove dangerous weapons. Handled carelessly, they trigger an event that threatens to haunt him for the rest of his life.

Hail Mary Corner

Bill, 16, lives in a Benedictine seminary. On the road to certain expulsion, he discovers two secrets that trigger an event that may haunt him for the rest of his life.

Brian Payton

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