Allen and his men reach King's Glacier, a massive, 300-foot-tall barrier of ice. Meanwhile, back in the spring of 1885, Allen and Sophie exchange letters, each recounting their separate adventures. Still, Josh enjoys the diaries, identifying with Allen, and Josh and Walter begin exchanging letters. They are simply too understaffed to archive all of this new material. The novel then switches back to the present, with Josh returning Walter's letter and declining his offer. She also wishes to know more about her pregnancy, but her doctor will only give her minimal details. Sophie's natural curiosity leads her to purchase a photography book containing images of the area Allen will explore. This quashes her hopes of accompanying him. She shares the news that Allen will be going to Alaska, then learns of her pregnancy. Sophie's diary entries and letters from January of that same year weave throughout the entries from Allen's log. Based on the information in the diaries, the novel goes back in time to early 1885, when Allen and his men venture into the wilds of Alaska and attempt to communicate with the indigenous people who live there.

Walter also includes a donation to the museum. Walter hopes the museum’s curator, Josh, will take an interest in Allen's journals and Sophie's diary and want to add them to the collection. The novel opens in the present day, with a letter written by Allen's ancestor, Walter, to a museum in Alaska. To the Bright Edge of the World received a nomination for the International Dublin Literary Award in 2017.

However, there is another voyage of discovery-an inner one-occurring within Allen's young, pregnant wife, Sophie, at home in Portland, Oregon.

Set in the winter of 1885, Pulitzer Prize-nominated American author Eowyn Ivey’s historical novel To the Bright Edge of the World (2016) follows Lieutenant Colonel Allen Forrester as he and his men embark on an epic expedition up the Wolverine River in remote Alaska.

To the bright edge of the world