The Mountain Can Wait Paperback – May 7, 2015 by Sarah Leipciger (Tinder Press)

There is something about "The Mountain Can Wait" that quickly announces the fact that its Canadian author, Sarah Leipciger, studied and now teaches creative writing. The book follows all of the rules for the production of a good piece of creative fiction. First of all, it sticks to what the author knows, providing an engaging evocation of contemporary bush life working the lumber plantations of the Canadian Pacific Ranges, a life she clearly sampled during her early years and student life in British Columbia. Secondly, it places the story in a new and unfamiliar setting, eschewing the overworked logging camp angle for the rarely portrayed and far less dramatic lives of the planting crews. The story offers shed-loads of inter-personal tensions through its central protagonist, Tom, a down-to-earth bushman struggling to raise two teenagers on his own, whilst maintain a seasonal plantation planting business against tough competition. By his own admission, Tom is someone who is in his element in the wilds or amongst machines, who can make or mend almost anything but really doesn't have a clue when it comes to people.

The main characters in the book are all portrayed as solid, three-dimensional characters, who are credible and act in believable ways. They each have their failings and their foibles, which the author portrays convincingly. The story flows well, too, with good pacing and a balance of perspective between the two principals, Tom and his son, Curtis, as well a balance of action against pure description. The author's prose is slick and easy to read.

In theory, then, all of the ingredients are present which should make for a really good story. So why, then, did I reach the end, still wondering why the story never really caught fire? Perhaps it was because ultimately, for all of their trials and tribulations, no-one felt to change much between the start and the end of the book. As a result, I felt to have accompanied both Tom and Curtis on their respective journeys and to have shared the scenery with them but had no sense that their journeys had contributed much to their final destinations. By the end, there is a sense that time has passed and that things are different but not in any significant way.

Perhaps I missed the spark, but for me this book never really lights up as I felt it should. Lots of it are a good read but the overall feel by the end is one of flatness and disappointment. And I couldn't help but feel that the mountain is still waiting.