Under Nushagak Bluff

“This novel brilliantly explores the lives of one bloodline of Alaskan women struggling to make a home for themselves in a small fishing community.” —Devin Murphy, national-bestselling author of Tiny Americans

In 1939, everything changes for Anne Girl when outsider John Nelson grounds his sailboat on the shores, into Anne Girl’s skiff, and into her life during a rare storm in the Alaskan fishing village of Nushagak. When Anne Girl and her mother Marulia find their skiff flattened by John’s boat, Anne Girl decides she both hates and wants him. Thus begins a generational saga of strong, stubborn Yup’ik women living in a village that has been divided between the new and the old, the bluff side and the missionary side, the cannery side and the subsistence side. Under Nushagak Bluff is “an alluring and beautiful story of community and culture . . . a tale that reveals the real heart of Alaska” (Don Rearden, author of The Raven’s Gift).

“Heavener has gifted readers with a story both dreamy and authentic, a story made of many individual stories and celebrating oral storytelling and the value of stories altogether.” —Anchorage Daily News

“Honors on every page a combination of sea, sky, beach, and tundra, along with the returning salmon, the crying gulls, and the ripe berries they bear.” —Denali Sunrise

“[A] story of generational inheritances and expectations, fate, and loyalty is filtered through the tough voices of Alaskan women.” —Foreword Reviews

“An intriguing and important window into life among an Indigenous people and beautifully illustrates the push and pull of assimilation in pre-state Alaska.” —Kirkus Reviews