Lookout

Love, Solitude, and Searching for Wildfire in the Boreal Forest

By: Trina Moyles

Narrated by: Trina Moyles

A page-turning memoir about a young woman's grueling, revelatory summers working alone in a remote lookout tower and her eyewitness account of the increasingly unpredictable nature of wildfire in the Canadian north.

While growing up in Peace River, Alberta, Trina Moyles heard many stories of Lookout Observers--strange, eccentric types who spent five-month summers alone, climbing 100-foot high towers and watching for signs of fire in the surrounding boreal forest. How could you isolate yourself for that long? she wondered. "I could never do it," she told herself.

Craving a deeper sense of purpose, she left northern Alberta to pursue a decade-long career in global humanitarian work. After three years in East Africa, and newly engaged, Trina returned to Peace River with a plan to sponsor her fiance, Akello's, immigration to Canada. Despite her fear of being alone in the woods, she applied for a seasonal lookout position and got the job.

Thus begins Trina's first summer as one of a handful of lookouts scattered throughout Alberta, with only a farm dog, Holly--labeled "a domesticated wolf" by her former owners--to keep her company. While searching for smoke, Trina unravels under the pressure of a long-distance relationship--and a dawning awareness of the environmental crisis that climate change is producing in the boreal. Through megafires, lightning storms, and stunning encounters with wildlife, she learns to survive at the fire tower by forging deep connections with nature and with an extraordinary community of people dedicated to wildfire detection and combat. In isolation, she discovers a kind of self-awareness--and freedom--that only solitude can deliver.

Lookout is a riveting story of loss, transformation, and belonging to oneself, layered with an eyewitness account of the destructive and regenerative power of wildfire in our northern forests.

©2021 Trina Moyles (P)2021 Penguin Random House Canada

Critic reviews

WINNER OF THE 2021 NATIONAL OUTDOOR BOOK AWARDS IN THE OUTDOOR LITERATURE CATEGORY

FINALIST FOR THE ROBERT KROETSCH CITY OF EDMONTON BOOK PRIZE

FINALIST FOR THE ALBERTA LITERARY AWARDS (MEMOIR)

“Moyles tells a totally engrossing story of fear and love, self-recrimination and healing, by turns vivid with memory and presence. Page after page, I felt immersed in the rejuvenating wonders of the natural world, rendered here in all their magnificent, everchanging detail. Reader, you will roar through this book.” (Charlotte Gill, author of Eating Dirt: Deep Forests, Big Timber, and Life with the Tree-Planting Tribe)

“Trina Moyles has written a beautiful, closely observed love letter to the boreal forest and the wilderness of northern Canada at a time when it is threatened by unprecedented change. But Lookout is more than that: it's also a powerful, unforgettable story about the ways that solitude in nature can break us down, and then put us back together again.” (Eva Holland, author of Nerve: A Personal Journey Through the Science of Fear)

“A vital and howling missive of a book. Lookout holds the wide wisdom and fierce beauty of the boreal forest it depicts. Trina Moyles has spent several seasons sitting in the fire, looking into the heat of love, death and regenerated life; experiencing solitude as intensifying tincture. She writes as a wild and erudite witness, bursting with hunger and feral passion for the living world.” (Kyo Maclear, author of Birds Art Life: A Year of Observation)

Highly enjoyed this

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and had a hard time stopping listening. Made me want to go find a fire tower and spend more time in the woods.

Who are we, really?

On the surface, one might suppose this book would be a simple glimpse into the adventures and challenges of a unique lifestyle, embraced by those who choose such a path. While this alone would be quite fascinating and worth the time to learn about, I would say that what made Trina’s story truly captivating for me was that it is very much a work of philosophy at its core.

Through powerful, eloquent, and sometimes brutally honest language, Trina invites us to explore our humanity as she recounts the ways in which she was forced to acknowledge hers. Who are we when we are utterly alone, physically and emotionally? How might we respond when we come face to face with our mortality? What does our life look like when decluttered of distractions, when we have more time inside our own minds than we know what to do with? And what can we learn from the experiences of Trina and others like her who have thrust themselves into these periods of mandatory self discovery?

Through honesty and vulnerability, Trina has through her writing offered a gift to the world which is to bring us closer to the answers to such questions, and perhaps a little farther along the path of our own self discovery.

Lookout - great listen.

Yes, we all know authors shouldn't read their own books and this one gets off to a slow start but then she really does find her own stride and I can't imagine a different person reading it. I listened to this book straight through for two days and I thoroughly enjoyed it, especially the epilogue and even the ending credits - I was very moved.

The whole package for adventure!

Family members worked at nearby lookouts when I was growing up, and they still get dreamy-eyed when they talk about it. This was a great listen about the author's experiences, including the challenges and benefits of being alone. I could have done without some of the romance mentions, but that was the initial reason for the author to pursue this adventure. My husband and I have listened to this twice while on road trips and will probably listen again!