It's not nearly as good as M. Wylie Blanchet's original book The Curve of Time, but in filling out a little more detail of its subject and its author, it reminds you of those original pleasures.Capi Blanchet was a reticent woman; most of what we have of her directly is in her book. So the biography here concentrates on her original family in Quebec, and her own family consisting of the five children who accompanied her on the voyages of the Caprice. The heart of this book is devoted to retracing those trips, with updated descriptions and correct native names for places. In many cases, the site has been abandoned to decay and decades grown over; in others, it's been developed and now sees more boat traffic in a day than it did in a year in Capi's time. In neither case is the news pleasant, or unsurprising.The boating sections veer closer and closer to a cruising guide, which is only to be expected since that's Converse's experience and the origin of her interest in Blanchet. But it's clearly written and nicely produced, with many photos and almost enough maps. If it doesn't succeed in reviving the Caprice or rendering more vivid Blanchet's picture of the BC coast, it comes as close as any book likely ever will.
