Book description
 Sick Heart River turns the adventure yarn into a spiritual quest
with an authority that few have ever rivalled.' Â- Evening Standard
Sick Heart River is both John Buchan's most powerful novel and his
last, completed just days before his death. It was published
posthumously in 1941. Buchan's rich descriptions of the rugged
Canadian Northwest Territories are influenced by his real-life voyage
down the Mackenzie River in 1937. At that time, Buchan was
Governor-General of Canada. The main character, the lawyer and
politician Sir Edward Leithen Â- perhaps the most autobiographical of
Buchan's characters Â- has been diagnosed with advanced tuberculosis
and has been given a year to live. A former colleague, American John
S. Blenkiron, requests help to find his niece's husband, who appears
to have flown from his very successful financial career to the
Canadian north. Leithen agrees to help.
One of Alfred Hitchcock's favourite writers, John Buchan was a
Scottish diplomat, barrister, journalist, historian, poet and novelist.
He published nearly 30 novels and seven collections of short stories. He
was born in Perth, an eldest son, and studied at Glasgow and Oxford. In
1901 he became a barrister of the Middle Temple and a private secretary
to the High Commissioner for South Africa. In 1907 he married Susan
Charlotte Grosvenor and they subsequently had four children. After
spells as a war correspondent, Lloyd George's Director of Information
and Conservative MP, Buchan moved to Canada in 1935. He served as
Governor General there until his death in 1940.
