Cold Starry Night

Young Claire Fejes was a promising sculptor and painter in New York City when her husband gave in to "gold fever." She held the unconventional view that her career was as important as his. But in those days, a woman followed her husband, so Claire did--to Fairbanks, last stop on the Alaska Railroad, in the heart of the immense northern territory, where Joe Fejes intended to mine for gold.

In a refreshingly candid memoir, Claire describes a remote outpost where the young couple joins a hard breed of Alaskans who transform loneliness into powerful friendships and where the artist overcomes soul-aching cultural isolation. Fairbanks is populated by characters such as the happy Finnish couple who adopt Claire and Joe; the lively Eva McGown, a one-woman social services agency who wears a potent violet perfume and speaks with a sweet Irish brogue; and Fabian Carey, the trapper who loves the wilderness as much as he does opera, literate, and art.

Written from the heart, this memoir of post-war Alaska has become a classic with its nostalgic reflections of a simpler time.