Fascinating REAL jungle book
The White Mary by Kira Salak
Okay, it is a novel, and has nothing to do with Rudyard Kipling’s classic, but the most striking part of this book is the very real and very difficult journey the protagonist undertakes through the jungles of New Guinea.
That protagonist, Marika Vecera, is no Victorian princess, and not always entirely likable. But you have to admire her perseverance and heart. She’s not someone accustomed to an easy life - in fact, not someone even comfortable with one. She’s a journalist who survived growing up first in Communist Czechoslovakia, then as exile living in America with her schizophrenic, suicidal mother. Her father, a dissident Czech journalist, died when she was 6. Shuffled off to foster with her American cousins whenever her mother was hospitalized, she basically has been fending for herself since 13. Having made it through school, she becomes a journalist specializing in the hard stories in dangerous places, priding herself on being truthful even when it is politically unpopular.
Settled in Boston, thinking of writing memoirs and forming a relationship with Seb, a sweet, understanding guy who happens to be a recovering addict and a doctoral student in psychology. Long a fan of her articles, they meet at a conference, and her life seems to be, for once, settling into something that passes for normality. Then she receives word that her idol, a journalist named Richard Lewis, whom the world thought had committed suicide, has been seen in the jungles of Papua New Guinea, and she feels compelled to find him.
The book bounces back and forth between the journey and the events leading up to it, but the characters and atmosphere of the jungle seem quite real, very visceral and not always pleasant. It is fascinating to learn more and more about Marika - whom the natives refer to as the [i]wait meri[/i] - the white mary - the crazy pale blonde woman who insists on being guided further into the jungle, despite the injuries, annoyances, sickness and very real dangers she encounters.
It is all quite engrossing, and learning from the cover that the author was the first woman to traverse Papua New Guinea makes it all even more interesting. Watching the dynamics of her relationships - with Seb and with Richard Lewis, unfold as the books goes on is just as interesting, and I heartily recommend this book to anyone who wants an unflinching look at humans - both the “civilzed” kind and the more “primitive” and nature.
Tags: fiction, jungle, Kira Salak, papua New Guinea, White Mary