[close] The Trade, Fred Stenson's ambitious novel of the last days of the fur trade, begins in the wake of the merger of the Hudson's Bay and Northwest companies--old enemies that had violently squabbled for access to the West of British North America. Stenson reopens this murky region of Canadian history by sticking closely to the historical record, choosing a few particularly picturesque characters as his protagonists, and "writing between the lines of known fur trade history." He follows the careers of three men: John Rowand, a fierce and hot-tempered old trader nicknamed "One Pound One" for the sound of his limping gait; Ted Harriott, a luckless clerk with a gift for native languages; and the new governor of the Northern Division of the company, a lecherous and ruthless tyrant. As The Trade opens, Harriott and One Pound One have been sent on a fool's errand to establish a trading post on the Bow River. Both men emerge with their careers intact, but their fates diverge from there.

The Trade makes use of historical material that is closely associated with writers like Rudy Wiebe, but Stenson takes a very different approach: his West is a godless one, and he makes no effort to tell his story from the perspective of any of the region's native tribes. This is a historical novel for history buffs. For all the luridness of Stenson's subject matter, he seldom realizes its full dramatic potential, but the meticulousness of his research and the originality of his interpretation make The Trade worth investigating. --Jack Illingworth [close]