Editorial Content for Sisters of the Midnight Sun: A Murder in Arctic Alaska

In 1993, as the summer sun burned without setting in arctic Alaska, sisters Wanda and Bernice Ipalook were killed. Several people from the small city of Utqiagvik remembered seeing them close to the time of their deaths: heading home together happy and more than likely drunk. 

But the blurring of night into morning, plus the way that time is reckoned in Indigenous Inupiat culture, made it difficult to ascertain exactly when they were last seen and by whom. This made the job of investigators incredibly challenging, as well as that of public defender Rebecca Wright Stevens, who was tasked with the defense of a prime suspect in the homicide. Decades later, she revisits the murder, the investigation and her life in Utqiagvik in SISTERS OF THE MIDNIGHT SUN. 

"Part true crime, part memoir, SISTERS OF THE MIDNIGHT SUN is a unique glimpse into a harsh and gorgeous landscape and a culture that unfortunately is all-too-little known or even considered."

Wright Stevens (Wright at the time of the events in the book) is a young widow with two children in college and needing a change of scenery, plus a sizable paycheck, when she takes the job as a public defender over a large swath of mostly rural Alaska. She often deals with misdemeanors. But now she is assigned to work with Amos Lane, a man with a criminally violent past and a history of familial trauma who had been on a weekend pass from a rehab facility when Wanda and Bernice were killed. 

Lane is not forthcoming with details, and Wright Stevens doesn’t ask many questions, but she does secure him immunity quite quickly when the investigation sets its sights on another suspect. She returns to the case and her defense of Lane throughout the book, but (despite the title) this is not the central focus here. It is more of a panoramic view of her nine years in the arctic and her life there as a tanik, a white woman and outsider. 

During a big birthday party thrown by her friend and coworker, Liz, who knows she works too hard, Wright Stevens meets Michael Nusunginya, a charming, handsome and slightly younger man. They begin a romance that involves the attention of much of his extended family and seemingly most of the town. But Michael --- like Liz, Amos and even the Ipalook sisters --- struggles with addiction, and Wright Stevens is unable to help in ways that make a lasting impact. The beauty of the arctic is matched by its dangers. Above her soar snowy owls, and hungry polar bears occasionally wander into town. Violent men are master ivory carvers, and local sports heroes are on suicide watch. Wanda, Bernice and their family never find justice. 

While the summer is one long day, the winters are one long night. Wright Stevens and others from the lower 48 are never in-step with the cultural and natural rhythms of the place. The system of law and society she represents is still a symbol of oppression, and even a well-respected individual remains an intruder of sorts. This tension may be compelling to some, but others may find it morally fraught and thus a difficult read. 

Part true crime, part memoir, SISTERS OF THE MIDNIGHT SUN is a unique glimpse into a harsh and gorgeous landscape and a culture that unfortunately is all-too-little known or even considered. The writing here is conversational, and the lives recorded are interesting, though readers may wish they had gotten to know Utqiagvik better.