Ada Blackjack

A True Story of Survival in the Arctic

By: Jennifer Niven

Narrated by: Laural Merlington

In September 1921, four young men and Ada Blackjack, a diminutive 25-year-old Eskimo woman, ventured deep into the Arctic in a secret attempt to colonize desolate Wrangel Island for Great Britain. Two years later, Ada Blackjack emerged as the sole survivor of this ambitious polar expedition. This young, unskilled woman - who had headed to the Arctic in search of money and a husband - conquered the seemingly unconquerable north and survived all alone after her male companions had perished.

Following her triumphant return to civilization, the international press proclaimed her the female Robinson Crusoe. But whatever stories the press turned out came from the imaginations of reporters: Ada Blackjack refused to speak to anyone about her horrific two years in the Arctic. Only on one occasion - after charges were published falsely accusing her of causing the death of one her companions - did she speak up for herself.

Jennifer Niven has created a compelling history of this remarkable woman, taking full advantage of the wealth of firsthand resources about Ada that exist, including her never-before-seen diaries, the unpublished diaries from other primary characters, and interviews with Ada's surviving son. Ada Blackjack is more than a rugged tale of a woman battling the elements to survive in the frozen north - it is the story of a hero.

©2003 Jennifer Niven (P)2020 Tantor

Ada’s will to live

Reader was a bit deadpan.
Story itself was fascinating. The degree of prejudices and stereotypes in that time period are so disheartening even though many of those still exist today.

A wonderful woman

I write this as a native Alaskan who knew of vilhjalmur stefansson and nothing of Ada Blackjack. The story starts slowly, but is thrilling in it’s detail. It gives much on the ethno-culture of the adventurers and nothing of Ada’s. This would have enlightened the culture clash on Wrangel. Some mispronunciations of Alaska names!

Someone we should be learning about in school!

Loved this story. I particularly live how the last section of the book is devoted to what happened after the exploration. If it didn't include that, I would have been on the internet for hours.

I call her an Inupiaq.

What a story to inspire the young agnaqs to pursue their independence and spirit of adventure. Ada unknowingly placed in naulimiu history, her legendary fierceness as an Inupiaq agnaq. I wish she profited more but am glad she lived to a ripe old age.

Great story, hard to listen to sounds like it’s being read by a computer voice. No, just no.

Narration is terrible choppy, sort of computer like AI sounding voice with weird pauses and rhythms. Never experienced such a bad narration in an audiobook.

Inspirational

Ada Blackjack’s story is long and enduring, but this book is full of the facts of her life and the circumstances surrounding her heroic survival, as well as the men who played a role in her story. Highly recommend this read.

Exposè on the arctic and human greed

What a sad book. It would seem that the story of the actual expedition is sandwiched between numerous accounts of of deceit and greed surrounding it. I didn’t know what to expect when I started this book besides a harrowing adventure tale. What I got was an underlying current of greed.

one of the most incredible stories I've ever heard

First of all, somebody needs to make this into a movie or Netflix series. This story of a young, insecure "eskimo" woman who endures the most trying life of survival and self discovery should be known to the world. The author does an excellent job of leading you piece by piece through the maze of trials and tribulations of the expedition and the aftermath of societal horrors put upon both Ada and the families of the deceased explorers.

Remarkable story

While I didn’t do any fact checking, the story seems very well researched. I find it remarkable that it took so long to gather all the facts, and it’s so much of the world remained in the dark about what actually happened. I I found the story. Remarkably interesting and entertaining from beginning to end.

Great true story

I recommend looking into Ada Blackjack’s story, but this audiobook is not the way. The narrators voice sounded digital to me. There were some weird pauses and pronunciations of words. I gave it a 2 hour try, but there were too many issues while listening.
There is a 3 part podcast (Against the Odds) telling the Ada story if you want an audio version, or get the physical book.