Along with poetry and short stories, extended personal essays occupy a place on any list of underappreciated literary works. In the 12 fresh, candid, and often emotionally resonant pieces that compose Another North: Essays, however, Jennifer Brice reveals how the almost limitless flexibility of the essay makes it such an appealing vehicle for a writer of her skill.
Brice (Unlearning to Fly) wrote these essays over 25 years, and they often circle back to familiar themes, among them family, her romantic life, and how she navigates the world as a woman. Many of the essays draw on her roots in Fairbanks, Alaska; It's a locale that for her is "simultaneously home/not home." Among the most memorable essays in a book that touches on subjects that include cooking, selecting the perfect white T-shirt, and losing things, is "Playing Bridge with Robots." In it, Brice traces the arc of her long friendship with a fellow writer before it fell, inexplicably, into a silence that lasted 20 years. "I know what it's like, that partial eclipse of the sun. Such a surprise. So chilling." Another standout piece is "My Essay on Flowers and How Things End," that focuses on Brice's checkered love life. She calls it her "weird abecedarian essay," in which each section begins with the name of a flower in alphabetical order and stands for a different personality trait.
Anyone who appreciates the work of writers like Rebecca Solnit and Mark Slouka will find a kindred spirit in Jennifer Brice. As revealing as these essays are of her life, readers shouldn't be surprised if they spark meaningful reflections of their own. --Harvey Freedenberg, freelance reviewer