quippe | Entries tagged with stef penney

The Blurb On The Back:

Follow the path to the freezing north.

Follow your ambition.

Follow your heart.

Under a Pole Star

Love will find a way.

Flora Mackie first crossed the Arctic Circle at the age of twelve. In 1889, the whaler’s daughter from Dundee – dubbed by the press “The Snow Queen” – sets out to become a scientist and explorer. She struggled to be taken seriously but determination and chance lead her back to northern Greenland at the head of a British expedition, despite the main who believe that a young woman has no place in this harsh world of men.

Geologist Jakob de Beyn was raised in Manhattan. Yearning for wider horizons, he joins a rival expedition, led by the furiously driven Lester Armitage. When Jakob and Flora’s paths cross, it is a fateful meeting.

All three become obsessed with the north, a place where violent extremes exist side by side: perpetual night and endless day; frozen seas and coastal meadows; heroism and lies. Armitage’s ruthless desire to be the true leader of polar discovery takes him and his men on a mission whose tragic outcome will reverberate for years to come.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Stef Penney returns to the frozen landscapes she conveyed so evocatively in the Costa winning THE TENDERNESS OF WOLVES with an epic historical romance set among the early polar expeditions. However while the landscape is luscious, the emotionally chilly Flora is difficult to relate to, I never cared about her relationship with Jakob (despite some erotic sex scenes) and found most of the male characters to be under-drawn – especially Lester who is too cartoony to be a successful antagonist and while I kept turning the pages, I never really connected with the story.

UNDER A POLE STAR will be released in the United Kingdom on 3rd November 2016. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the ARC of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

1867, Canada.

As winter tightens its grip on the isolated settlement of Dove River, a woman steels herself for the journey of a lifetime. A man has been brutally murdered and her seventeen-year-old son has disappeared. The violence has re-opened old wounds and inflamed deep-running tensions in the frontier township – some want to solve the crime; others seek only to exploit it.

To clear her son’s name, she has no choice but to follow the tracks leaving the dead man’s cabin and head north into the forest and the desolate landscape that lies beyond it …

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Stef Penney’s debut novel is a gripping and assured historical thriller that deservedly won the Costa First Novel Award in 2006. Penney alternates between first person, third person limited and third person omniscient points of view throughout the text to great effect, although my favourite sections are those told by the enigmatic Mrs Ross as she recounts her life in Scotland (where she spent time in an asylum), her marriage to Mr Ross and her love for Francis. I particularly admired the way she weaves in a historic tragedy that’s still gossiped about in Dove River, namely the disappearance of the Seton sisters and the pall its cast over the lives of some of the cast together with the details she gives about the lives of the main cast. There’s an overriding sadness to the text, each of the characters has suffered loss and each has hopes and ambitions for the future, whether it’s Donald’s love for the beautiful Susannah, Mr Sturrock’s hopes to prove an Indian written culture or Mrs Ross’s desire to exonerate her son. Also great is the description Penney gives of the Canadian wilderness and its effects on her characters and the historical detail she gives to bring life to the period. My only gripes are that one of the revelations is telegraphed a little too heavily and feels out of keeping for the time (especially the reaction of one of the characters to it) and the ending is open, but these are small issues given that the book had me gripped from beginning to end and I can’t wait to read Penney’s next book.