A review by bookishwendy
Two Old Women: An Alaska Legend of Betrayal, Courage and Survival by Velma Wallis

5.0

This was a beautiful tale from indigenous Alaskan oral tradition about two old women (75 and 80 years old, respectively) who are abandoned by their clan during a bad winter -- a difficult "good of the many over the good of a few" decision made by the chief. The two women had been reliant on others for a while, and when they make the decision to try and survive instead of succumb to the elements, they have to find ways to draw a new inner strength and become independent again somehow. But what they lack in physical vigor, they make up for in experience and wisdom (and also, they have to learn to stop complaining, which I found rather amusing). I especially liked the cautious friendship of the two women and how, as things came to a head near the end of the story, old wounds aren't quickly tied up into a pat, over-simplified ending.