RICHARD & JUDY BOOK CLUB 2017. SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2017 COSTA NOVEL AWARD.
‘A novel of huge scope with a tremendous sense of period and place’ Costa judges
‘A dazzling tale of romance and survival’ Guardian
Follow the path to the freezing north. Follow your ambition. Follow your heart
Flora Mackie first crossed the Arctic Circle at the age of twelve. Years later, in 1892, determination and chance lead her back to northern Greenland as a scientist at the head of a British expedition, defying the expectations of those who believe a woman has no place in that harsh world.
Geologist Jakob de Beyn was raised in Manhattan. Yearning for wider horizons, he joins a rival expedition. Jakob and Flora’s paths cross. It is a fateful meeting, where passion and ambition collide and an irresistible attraction is born.
The violent extremes of the north obsess them both: perpetual night and endless day; frozen seas and coastal meadows, and the strange, maddening pull it exerts on the people trying to make their mark on its vast expanses – a pursuit of glory whose outcome will reverberate for years to come.
‘A novel of huge scope with a tremendous sense of period and place’ Costa judges
‘A dazzling tale of romance and survival’ Guardian
Follow the path to the freezing north. Follow your ambition. Follow your heart
Flora Mackie first crossed the Arctic Circle at the age of twelve. Years later, in 1892, determination and chance lead her back to northern Greenland as a scientist at the head of a British expedition, defying the expectations of those who believe a woman has no place in that harsh world.
Geologist Jakob de Beyn was raised in Manhattan. Yearning for wider horizons, he joins a rival expedition. Jakob and Flora’s paths cross. It is a fateful meeting, where passion and ambition collide and an irresistible attraction is born.
The violent extremes of the north obsess them both: perpetual night and endless day; frozen seas and coastal meadows, and the strange, maddening pull it exerts on the people trying to make their mark on its vast expanses – a pursuit of glory whose outcome will reverberate for years to come.
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Reviews
A suspenseful epic, offering a leitmotif of constant unease . . . impressive
Unquestionably atmospheric, evocative and . . . rewarding
A tense and delicately written thriller
A remarkable literary debut . . . brilliantly assures, subtly written
Penney's evocation of the frozen lands of northern Canada couldn't ring truer if she'd spent months wandering through the land with nothing but a pair of huskies and a native tracker for company
Within the first fifty pages in was completely in love. It is a testimony to the power of good writing that it can present you with a world that you think you know nothing about, but by the end of [the book] you feel you own it
This subtle and superb novel brings the freezing landscape of the Canadian woods to such vivid life that the landscape itself becomes a strong character within the story
An absorbing and stylish mystery
A first-rate gripper with a notably sensual as well as psychological understanding of its main characters
Curl up with this stunningly evocative tale about an intrepid young female explorer. As immersive as it is mesmerising, this is a novel that you won't ever forget
This is an epic love story set against the forbidding beauty of snow meadows. A perfect winter read
What has marked Penney out from the start is her ability to make her extensive historical research come alive
This . . . powerful drama is played out against a landscape that dominates [Penney's] imagination
Penney works hard to fill her canvas with colour and conviction
A terrific and beautifully written yarn that will make readers yearn to travel and fall in love in a cold climate
A beautifully written tale, elegant and well-observed, full of powerful descriptions of a dazzling landscape
It is a tribute to Penney's superlative descriptive skills that the book's erotic charge is so startlingly effective, and that her icy landscapes cast such a lasting, almost hallucinatory spell. This combination is the true rocket fuel of Under a Pole Star, and what makes it resonate long after the Snow Queen has divulged her long-held secret