This was a dark way to read in the new year! But it made the sudden drop in temperature here seem pleasant compared to what the characters in this tale experienced.
Patrick Sumner, a surgeon wanting to escape his past in the military service in India, signs up aboard the Volunteer, a whaling ship heading from Britain into the north waters. The captain lost a ship to the ice the previous season so the crew he is able to assemble can best be described as ragtag. Once underway things seem to be going well, until they aren’t. A man is murdered, the ship has foundered, and every time you think it can’t get any worse, something worse happens.
Most arctic misadventures are survival tales but there is much more to this book. This is one man’s battles against nature, himself, business and other people. Can one man survive against all these forces? As cold and cruel as this book was there are bright spots and the ending left me with a bittersweet smile.
