Book review: Barkskins

ANNIE PROULX is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author best known for The Shipping News and Brokeback Mountain. 

Annie Proulx

Fourth Estate, £18.99;

ebook, £9.99

Barkskins took five years to write, and when you set eyes on this beast of a book, it’s immediately apparent why.

At over 700 pages long, it’s a daunting read.

As a history graduate, Proulx has indulged her passion by detailing North American history from 1693 to 2013.

The story starts as Rene Sel and Charles Duquet arrive in New France (Canada) to chop trees for the odious and rather comical Monsieur Trepagny.

The settlers struggle to tame the wild landscape, and their treatment of the Native Americans is shocking.

The rest of this epic novel follows the ancestors of this pair, and shows how the human race has damaged the world’s forests over the last 300 years.

Whilst Proulx’s writing is clever and her research impressive, the many characters become confusing and it’s hard to feel attached to them. Most will find this more of a chore than a treat.