As someone who grew up fishing on the west coast of Vancouver Island, I often felt like I was reading about my own childhood in Tofino-based author Joanna Streetly’s Wild Fierce Life: Dangerous Moments on the Outer Coast (Caitlin Press).
But the book isn’t about fishing. Streetly writes about the antagonist—nature—in this collection of short stories in an alluring, spiritual, real, and frightening way. From outrunning tsunamis in a kayak to coming face to face with the nature of her own mind, Streetly’s experiences throughout this non-fiction collection will keep the reader turning the pages in anticipation of the next crisis, each one always unique from the last.
Streetly has the gift of saying a lot with few words. In “Balancing Act,” she speaks more truths about watching a relationship crumble in a few short paragraphs than many authors can say in a whole chapter.
The conflict in the second half of the book is far more internal than it is external and, at times, it would have been nice to know more about the people in Streetly’s life—for example, her father, who clearly had a profound impact on her. But, at the same time, the stories are impressively introverted. To be able to write in such a soul-grasping, meditative way without relying on external factors is scarce in literature today, and Streetly sets the bar to a one-of-a-kind high.
The power of the mind is conveyed with precision and excellence here, as is the isolation of living on the west coast. But with that isolation comes opportunity to look where more people should to find contentment: within.
With well-placed illustrations throughout, this collection is strong and compelling, but it’s also honest and fragile. Streetly walks a delicate line with such excellence that I was sad when it came time to put the book down; there is not enough literature like this collection out there today.
In Wild Fierce Life, Streetly is fearless in telling us her perceived shortcomings with nature, although those shortcomings more than make up for themselves in her elegant, transcendent, and captivating words.