Jan Redford

*Please note, I won this book via Goodreads Giveaways*

This was quite the story. It details Jan's life, highlighting her semi unstable childhood, growing up with a father who drinks too much, and a mother who followed him from place to place, because she didn't have another option. Unfortunately for Jan, she falls into the same cycle, after going through a bit of a wild phase.

Climbing is the highlight of the book. It's not something I've ever read much about, so those were probably the parts of this I enjoyed most. I've rock climbed up a wall in a gym a time or too, and enjoyed it, but I don't think I'd ever climb an actual mountain.

Though I understood Jan's hesitance about some aspects of climbing, I felt frustrated for her at times. She was powerful and kick ass when she climbed on her own, or with other women, or men who weren't her significant other, but when she climbed with men she was sleeping with, she turned soft, and let them do all the leading and deciding. And not just in climbing either, but in life.

Her deepest relationship was likely with Dan, a boyfriend of hers who got killed in an avalanche.
She was devastated by his death, and goes to his friend Grant for support. He's an emotionally abusive, manipulative person, who makes promises he can't, and simply won't keep, and holds her back. He promises her multiple times that after this or that accomplishment of his, she'll be able to go to university.

Jan is very unhappy with him, and there are times that she tries to assert her independence, like when he wants to take inheritance money and buy a trailer. She doesn't want that, so while he's out of the country on a climb, she buys a townhouse all by herself. It's these moments of willpower and defiance that make me wonder why she bothered to stay with him so long.

But, I know why. Sometimes, a crappy situation that you know is better than the unknown.

Luckily for Jan, her situation eventually works out to where she is in a happier place with more of an equal footing in a relationship. She gets a second chance of sorts, which I won't spoil.

This book is a solid read.… (més)