Doreen Cunningham

a Memoir

Soundings : Journeys in the Company of Whales

'A THRILLING, PASSIONATE AND TENDERHEARTED ADVENTURE' HELEN JUKES, AUTHOR OF A HONEYBEE HEART HAS FIVE OPENINGS 'WHAT A VOICE! WHAT A BOOK!' CHARLES FOSTER, AUTHOR OF BEING A HUMAN 'BEAUTIFUL AND BRAVE, AND STARTLING IN ITS RAW HONESTY' NEIL ANSELL, AUTHOR OF DEEP COUNTRY From the lagoons of Mexico to Arctic glaciers, grey whale mothers are swimming with their calves, past predatory orcas, through a warming sea. For ten thousand miles, they endure one of the longest mammalian migrations on the planet. Following them, by bus, train and ferry, are Doreen Cunningham and her young son Max, in pursuit of a wild hope: that their family of two can make it by themselves. Doreen first visited Utqiagvik, the northernmost town in Alaska, as a young journalist reporting on climate change among indigenous whaling communities. There, she joined the spring whale hunt under the neverending Arctic light, watching for bowhead whales and polar bears, drawn deeply to an Iñupiaq family and their culture amid the disappearing ice. Years later, plunged into sudden poverty and isolation after becoming a single parent, Doreen embarks on an extraordinary journey: following the grey whale migration all the way north to the Iñupiaq family that took her in, where grey and bowhead whales meet at the melting apex of our planet. Soundings is the story of a woman reclaiming her life, mile by mile; a child growing to love an ocean that is profoundly endangered; and a mother learning from another species how to parent in a time of unprecedented change. Intrepid, brave and breathtaking, her travels will take you to the ends of the earth, alongside the whales that call it home. 'STUNNING: FRESH, BRAVE AND UNIQUE' DAMIAN LE BAS, AUTHOR OF THE STOPPING PLACES 'A BOOK TO BE DEVOURED' RAMITA NAVAI, AUTHOR OF CITY OF LIES 'COMPLETELY UNIQUE AND UNFORGETTABLE' ERICA WAGNER 'INTIMATE AND FASCINATING' MARK BOYLE, AUTHOR OF THE WAY HOME 'BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN AND GRIPPING' DANIEL LAVELLE, AUTHOR OF DOWN AND OUT 'FASCINATING: AN INTIMATE JOURNEY THROUGH A WORLD ALREADY ALTERED BY CLIMATE CHANGE' SJON, AUTHOR OF THE WHISPERING MUSE

Journeys in the Company of Whales

Soundings

“This book is a gorgeous journey…You will be glad you’ve joined her.” —Susan Orlean, author of On Animals and The Library Book In this memoir of motherhood, love, and resilience, a woman and her toddler son follow the grey whale migration from Mexico to northernmost Alaska. In this striking blend of nature writing, whale science, and memoir, Doreen Cunningham interweaves two stories: tracking the extraordinary northward migration of the grey whales with a mischievous toddler in tow and living with an Iñupiaq family in Alaska seven years earlier. Throughout the journey she explores the stories of the whales and their young calves—their history, their habits, and their attempts to survive the changes humans have brought to the ocean. Cunningham’s voice is powerful: sharp, profound, sensitive, and unflinching. A story of courage and resilience, Soundings is about the migrating whales and all we can learn from them as they mother, adapt, and endure, their lives interrupted and threatened by global warming. It is also a riveting journey onto the Arctic Sea ice and into the changing world of Indigenous whale hunters, where Doreen becomes immersed in the ancient values of the Iñupiaq whale hunt and falls in love. For this is Doreen’s story, too—a fierce, feminist tale, touching on her childhood and her time living in a Women’s Refuge with her baby, becoming a mother, just like the whales. Lyrical, brave, and fearlessly honest, Soundings is an unforgettable journey.

Doreen Cunningham

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