Book Review: If You Lived Here, I'd Know Your Name

I brought plenty to read while I've been here in Alaska, but shifted my focus when a local Haines Resident shared this book title with me: If You Lived Here, I'd Know Your Name by Heather Lende.

First, let me tell you a bit about Haines from my point of view. DH and I went to Haines on a ferry from Skagway. From there, we were taken by Larry, the bus driver out to a small fish camp where we took a scenic river boat tour of the valley.

In our 30 minute drive out to the camp, Larry told us about life in Haines. It is a small town in Alaska that has 2400 "locals"...Apparently there are about 900 people who live in the city area. They have no postal delivery, so they meet at the post office to pick up their mail. It's quite a social affair. This is a subsistence community, which means people there rely on what they can hunt, grow, or catch to sustain them. Haines is listed as one of the top ten places for people who are millionaires (and need no other income) to move, because it's "one of the most perfect places on Earth".

Larry explained what life is like during the long winter months. He told us how neighbors have to care for neighbors. And he told us that this is a place that you "have to love to live in". He even told us about his wife who is a member of the "Ripinsky Rippers", a quilting club that meets regularly in women's homes...and his wife doesn't quilt! She just likes to be with the ladies.

And Larry mentioned that there was even a book written about Haines.

Ever intrigued by the small town life and finding out that Heather Lende and her husband, Chip came to Alaska to visit on their honeymoon and never left, I made a mental note to find that book. Heather is a columnist for the Anchorage Daily News and writes the obituaries for every Haines resident who passes on.

How pleased I was when I was in an independent bookstore in Sitka that featured books written by Alaskans. DH and I both finished the book in the past three days. And I have really fallen in love with Haines, Alaska (no, I don't intend to move and never go home). The book is a sweet picture of life in small town America with the wilderness of Alaska thrown in the mix.

I was even more excited this morning to open up the Anchorage Daily News and find an article by the author herself. A sidebar noted that she has a second book coming out soon.

If you like memoir, reading about real life in real places, considering the convergence of belief systems, cultures, and/or environment, then you would love this book.

We spent a very wet rainy day rafting down the river between icebergs and below a glacier today. It was still simply amazing. Tomorrow, we head up to the Denali, or Mt. McKinley, area via train. We will be in Talkeetna for the day, then leave on a red-eye flight tomorrow night.

I'm looking forward to coming home and sharing more stories and pictures with friends and family.