A Novel of Ancient Alaska, Book 1

On the frozen shores of Alaska's distant past, a young woman yearns to be a shaman.

From award winning Alaskan author Elyse Guttenberg comes Summer Light, a pre-history alive with the magic that was abundant when time was new.

 Elik was not like the others. She could not sew a seal skin with the tiny stitches that would make a kayak watertight. She could not set a trap as silently as drifting snow. Or throw the weighted strands of a bola into a flock of birds, or predict the weather. But this she could do: she could sing the spirit songs, almost like a shaman.

To be a shaman is a high calling for a young woman born into a poor family with a selfish father and though Elik longs for a chance to prove herself, what she finds instead is danger and hardship at every turn.

Desired by a powerful shaman and in love with a stranger cast out of his home, Elik must fight for a way to save her people and reach her destiny. But will the old shaman relinquish his claim? Will the spirits reveal their secrets before the harsh winter and hunger closes in?

"Anyone interested in Alaska's Natives will find much to like in this book, and anyone interested in good, factually correct fiction will find it irresistible." Alaska Magazine

"Summer Light is excellent, authentic and beautifully written. Reading it is a wonderful experience." --  Sue Harrison, author of Mother Earth, Father Sky

"Guttenberg creates a world based on the Paleo Eskimo cultures of Alaska and a young woman whose skills are less for sewing sealskin and setting traps than for singing the spirit songs. Includes a fascinating afterward about her research which ranged from the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, where she lives, to the Arctic ice fields."-- Feminist Bookstore News Watch