Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands

Renowned cartoonist Kate Beaton tells Canada's forgotten tale with stunning illustrations.

There there was Katie Beaton of the Cape Breton Beatons, namely Mabou, a close-knit coastal village where the lobster is as plentiful as beaches, fiddles, and Gaelic folk music. She preceded Kate Beaton, the New York Times bestselling cartoonist of Hark A Vagrant renown. Following graduation from university, Beaton follows in the long-standing tradition of East Coasters who, upon finding work elsewhere, leave their beloved hometown in search of better opportunities, heading west to capitalize on Alberta's oil boom. Beaton's voyage will really cost significantly more than she thinks since her only purpose is to pay off her college debts.

After arriving in Fort McMurray, Beaton works in the profitable camps run by the biggest oil firms in the world. It's obvious that I'm the only woman amid hundreds of men—a cultural shock. It doesn't really sink in until she relocates for more compensation to a sparse, remote workplace. She comes face to face with the brutal realities of living in the oil sands, where trauma is commonplace but seldom spoken about. Her injuries may never heal.

Beaton's skill as a cartoonist is evident in her depictions of enormous equipment and enormous vehicles against a breathtaking background of animals, the Northern Lights, and the Rocky Mountains of Alberta. Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands, her first full-length graphic novel, tells the little-known tale of Canada, a nation that takes pride in its egalitarian culture and stunning natural surroundings but also takes use of the resources of its territory and the humanity of its people.