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FriesenPress

Pub date January 10, 2025

ISBN 978-1-03-831352-2

Price $38.49 Hardcover, $26.49 Paperback

Author interview

Arthur makes his debut with a quietly profound allegory disguised as the simple tale of a marmot waking too early from hibernation. At the heart of the story is Muunokhoi, a tarbagan marmot who stirs alone in the middle of a deep winter while the rest of his colony remains asleep beneath the snow. Unable to return to hibernation and with food months away, he faces an impossible choice: remain underground and die slowly, or leave everything behind in search of food.  

Arthur roots his narrative in closely observed zoological detail: the rhythms of marmot life, the structure of their tunnels, and the hierarchies of their communities are all portrayed with precision. Hints of mythology thread through the story: a single marmot waking too soon, unsure of what makes him different. But Arthur never lets symbolism overshadow the realism. The tension between Muunokhoi’s natural behavior and his expanding consciousness is what drives the novel. The real question isn’t how he woke, but what it means now that he has. Flashes of Muunokhoi’s past; his escape from a controlling father, his bond with Sarantuya, and the home they built together, lend the story warmth and emotional weight. The novel’s heartbreak lies in the quiet irony that just as he finds stability, he must leave it behind. 

A tender, thought-provoking story about what it means to be awake in a sleeping world, and the loneliness, wonder, and weight that come with it.

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