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    The Alaskan Laundry
    The Alaskan Laundry
    The Alaskan Laundry
    Audiobook11 hours

    The Alaskan Laundry

    Written by Brenden Jones

    Narrated by Rebecca Gibel

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Tara Marconi has made her way to ldquo;The Rock,rdquo; a remote island in Alaska governed by the seasons and the demands of the world of commercial fishing. She hasn't felt at home in a long while-her mother's death left her unmoored and created a seemingly insurmountable rift between her and her father. But in the majestic, mysterious, and tough boundary-lands of Alaska she begins#160;to work her way up the fishing ladder from hatchery assistant all the way to King crabber. Tara learned discipline from years as a young boxer in Philly, but here she learns anew what it means to work, to connect, and-in buying and fixing up an old tugboat-how to make a home she knows is her own.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHighbridge Company
    Release dateApr 26, 2016
    ISBN9781681680675
    The Alaskan Laundry

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    Reviews for The Alaskan Laundry

    4/5

    19 ratings6 reviews

    What did you think?

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      I received this Goodreads Giveaway in hope of a review.A life-changing decision sends Tara into the harsh world of Alaska commercial fishing. There, she learns that she can do almost anything that she sets her mind to. It is a lot of hard work and she, a young female from the lower 48, meets the challenges.Seamlessly and knowledgeably well-written, this narrative grabs you by your curiosity and holds you there until the end! Characters are real and trials engaging.Don't miss this one!

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      This debut novel has been getting all sorts of accolades, even a recommendation by Oprah. I became interested because of the setting in an Alaskan fishing village and because I enjoy stories of strong women. 18-year-old Tara Marconi is grief-stricken over her mother's death so she decides to leave Philadelphia for Alaska to find herself again. As she learns from a new friend up north, Alaska is the place to come to tumble around in the Alaskan Laundry, get clean, and become renewed. Tara soon learns that it isn't as simple as it sounds. She has a job lined up by her cousin who used to work in a fish hatchery and processing center. Yuck. I almost had to hold my nose while I was reading due to the way the author made the smells come alive. He must have experience working in the fishing industry because that part of it was well described and rang true. Tara was the one I had a little trouble believing in. For such a young woman, she seemed too tough and quick to use her boxing skills against hard-working fishermen who annoyed her. Luckily, they were mostly drunk or so taken by surprise that she didn't suffer too much damage in return. It made for a good story as did the bear encounter on her first walk into the woods, but I was skeptical about some of her scrapes and misadventures. Although I had trouble relating to the edgy protagonist, I enjoyed many of the side characters. The adoption of the aging wolf/dog Keta was a welcome and natural turn of events. He softened Tara's rough exterior and made her more likable. Tara's travails made for an adventure-filled book. I hope the author writes more books about Alaska. His knowledge of the flora and fauna of the land and some of its colorful characters made this a worthwhile read in the end.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Tara Marconi arrives on a remote island with nothing but a rucksack and the promise of a job in a salmon hatchery; she slowly settles in and learns to live, and to live with her own past. This is a love story about a way of life only possible in such a wild place. I really enjoyed the natural descriptions and being immersed in the details of boats and fishing. The idea of getting away from it all appeals to me but I liked how the ending brings her round full circle - it leaves the reader feeling ready to face the world instead of withdrawing.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Loved this book. Alaska, fishing and great characters.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      The Alaskan Laundry by Brendan Jones is a very highly recommended novel about a woman who escapes to Alaska and works hard to find peace and her place in the world. This is a not-to-be-missed debut featuring a strong woman who learns to face her problems head-on and overcome them.Tara Marconi has run away from Philadelphia, her father Urbano, the family bakery, boxing, and her boyfriend Connor. She has traveled to a remote, rugged Alaskan island called "the Rock" aka Archangel Island, with plans to work for a year at a fish hatchery there. After a rough start she works her way through the commercial fishing industry and stays more than the original planned one year. Tara finds herself drawn to an old WWII tug boat that is for sale and she makes it her goal to earn enough money to buy the boat and a place to call her own.Tara makes friends and meets an odd assortment of individuals involved with commercial fishing. She fights her way through the tough, brutal jobs and her anger toward her father, as well as the depression she had fallen into in Philly. She also has to come to terms with her mother's death, memories from her childhood, and an incident she has never talked about that scarred her as a teen. Tara regains her confidence and discovers a sense of self and purpose - not without struggles, bumps and bruises- through hard work and raw determination.Her friend tells her that we are put on this earth to learn to love honestly and cleanly and people are drawn to living in Alaska to help them achieve this:"'So we’re all tumbling around in the Alaskan laundry out here. If you do it right you get all that dirt washed out, then turn around and start making peace with the other sh*t. Maybe even make a few friends along the way.' He winked at her.'I’m trying,' she said."I found The Alaskan Laundry to be very well written. The narrative consists of short chapters that mirror the independent steps Tara is making toward self-discovery and true empowerment. Brendan Jones' real life experiences and knowledge of the commercial fishing industry makes this novel even more compelling to read. You can tell that he knows what he is writing about. His descriptions of the people, the setting, the landscape, and even the smells are pitch perfect in establishing a real sense of place.I'm glad I read this coming-of-age story, even if I was at times telling Tara in my head, "Oh no, sweetie, don't do that..." Tara is an imperfect protagonist, but you will be rooting for her, hoping she does find the peace and sense of self and purpose that she needs as she figures out how to navigate her way and work at various difficult jobs. The Alaskan Laundry is one of those novels that will stay with you.Disclosure: My Kindle edition was courtesy of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for review purposes.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5
      Mixed feelings about this one....I felt the blurb was misleading, I was expecting a light read about a young woman finding herself, resolving issues while in Alaska, but it really was a book about working in the fisheries/fishing industry. The descriptions went on and on and yet they were hard to visualize.
      The author chose to write a female as the main character, yet it felt like a teenage boy was speaking. The reactions, emotions, speech, it all felt off to me. I found her unformed and unlikeable. Her fascination with an old boat did not ring true to me. There were too many secondary characters, many more than were necessary, and it felt like the author was just trying to tell us about all of the different people he himself had met. Unfortunately few of the characters were well developed, and they dropped in and out of the story so often that I kept getting them confused. The storyline about the Native man especially annoyed me, it seemed like he had a very interesting backstory but it was never explored, and his behavior seemed random and unlikely. Again it felt like the authored met someone like him - briefly- and tried to expend an encounter into a relationship.
      My favorite parts were about the dog!