Description

RICHARD & JUDY BOOK CLUB 2017. SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2017 COSTA NOVEL AWARD.

‘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.

Publisher Review

What has marked Penney out from the start is her ability to make her extensive historical research come alive * Sunday Herald * This is an epic love story set against the forbidding beauty of snow meadows. A perfect winter read * Red Magazine * A beautifully written tale, elegant and well-observed, full of powerful descriptions of a dazzling landscape * Sunday Express * This . . . powerful drama is played out against a landscape that dominates [Penney's] imagination * Daily Mail * 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 * Heat * 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 * Guardian * A terrific and beautifully written yarn that will make readers yearn to travel and fall in love in a cold climate * The Times * Penney works hard to fill her canvas with colour and conviction * Sunday Times *