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A Dune Adrift: The Strange Origins and Curious History of Sable Island

by Marq de Villiers and Sheila Hirtle

There are many books written about the world’s exotic places and peoples. Sable Island, off the coast of Nova Scotia, won’t fit most people’s definition of exotic – a crescent-shaped chunk of land in the Atlantic, Sable is really just a big sand drift surrounded by water. As for the inhabitants, well, there are only two full-time residents on the entire island. All of which makes A Dune Adrift an even more remarkable book.

Somehow, Marq de Villiers and Sheila Hirtle have managed to take this unremarkable island and fashion from it a remarkable narrative. But then again, this is the author duo that gave us Sahara: A Natural History, so they know a thing or two about writing about sand.

Although their subject is small in geography, de Villiers and Hirtle show that Sable Island is hardly limited when it comes to its history, geology, climate, and flora and fauna. They trace Sable’s history as a destination for European exploration and colonization, its importance as a spot on the Acadia-New England trade routes, the tides and currents that have shaped the island, and, perhaps most interestingly, its presence as a home for a diverse group of sea and land animals. Many Canadians know Sable Island as the home to a herd of wild horses, and de Villiers and Hirtle do a superb job of describing how they got there, and how they continue to flourish.

A Dune Adrift may not appeal to those who love exotic travel narratives or “location” books about obviously vibrant cities or cultures. But as a work that takes a subject that seems lacking in interest, only to reveal to the reader that there is, in fact, a lot happening under the surface, this book is well worth the read.

 

Reviewer: Paul Challen

Publisher: McClelland & Stewart

DETAILS

Price: $34.99

Page Count: 304 pp

Format: Cloth

ISBN: 0-7710-2642-0

Released: Aug.

Issue Date: 2004-8

Categories: Science, Technology & Environment

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