![]() ![]() Callahan’s autobiographical account of the story, Adrift, is a gut-wrenching book which clearly details the extreme mental toughness required to survive at sea. He drifted for 76 days, and over 1800 miles of ocean, before he reached land and rescue in the Bahamas. On February 5, the ship sank in a storm, leaving Callahan alone in the Atlantic in a five-and-a-half-foot inflatable rubber raft – naked, except for a t-shirt, with only three pounds of food, a few bits of gear, and eight pints of water. The Story: On the night of January 29, 1982, Steven Callahan set sail alone in his small sailboat from the Canary Islands bound for the Caribbean. Here are just a few of our favorites, and some of the lessons they can convey to us. ![]() These are true life survival stories, told by the people who lived them – and they are packed with real hard-learned wisdom. There’s another kind of story that, if well told, can keep us on the edge of our seat and leave us marveling at the tenacity of the human spirit. But these fanciful tales aren’t the only stories that authors and screenwriters can tell. No matter how much our disbelief is suspended by a great storyline, we know the tale never happened and it probably never would have happened. It’s disbelief, and it rises from the fact that deep down – we know it’s a made-up story. The rugged wilderness settings and crazy plot twists can captivate our attention for hours, even though there’s something gnawing at the edge of our thoughts the whole time. If only she could get the stories of difficult and delayed rescues out of her mind.If you’re a fan of outlandish survival-themed movies and novels, then you already know how entertaining these fictitious adventures can be. But Blake, her outdoorsman husband, promises the views are worth the risk. Still, the notion of frigid water, towering cliffs, and natural disasters make the perils of the canyon hard to ignore. Maybe the family backpacking trip into the remote West Clear Creek Wilderness is exactly what the two of them need to reconnect. Jen misses the days when her daughter Sydney would listen to stories about lullabies. Granted, cliff jumping into crystal clear pools does sound fun. Why can’t her family put off their vacation for a day? Now she’s stuck listening to her brother and sister whine while her mom tries to bore into her social life like a woodpecker searching for grubs. Sydney likes hiking, but the idea of missing her boyfriend’s party when he has been showing interest in someone else has leadened her pack. My star rating of 3.5 is a reflection of personal preference, but in the interest of objective reviewing I’ve rounded it up to 4* on Amazon and Goodreads.Ī story of family, hope, and the will to survive. I liked reading all the stuff about hiking and survival – it was clear that the author is well-versed in this, but the information was seamlessly woven into the narrative and never felt like too much. I didn’t take to Jen much she seemed rather humourless, and Blake a bit too Great Dad. Sydney is the eldest and is reluctant to go on the trip because she will be missing her boyfriend’s party – and she is already concerned about his loyalty. ![]() Divisions and underlying tensions are magnified when the family’s strengths are pitted against Nature at her most unrelenting. Parents Jen and Blake take their three children – Sydney and Tessa, teenagers, and Max, aged 10 – on a hiking trip in Arizona canyons, an area of wild beauty and potential danger, which I had trouble picturing because of course there is nothing like that in England! I looked up a couple of Youtube videos of canyon hiking, flash floods, etc, so I could see what I was reading about. The characterisation is excellent, the story is well-paced, and I found myself wanting to know what would happen next – which is, of course, what the answer to the question ‘is it any good?’ hinges upon. Generally, this novel was a bit too ‘Hallmark’ for me, but that’s merely a matter of taste – the book itself was jolly good, and the author can certainly write. This is not my usual sort of genre at all, but the nicely written blurb piqued my interest. ![]()
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