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1800s, 2000s: Is one of the in one of the greatest enduring mysteries of polar exploration about to be solved?
Minds of Winter
What you need to know before your trail
It begins with a chance encounter at the top of the world.
Fay Morgan and Nelson Nilsson are two strangers who meet quite literarlly at the top of the world. Having both arrived in Inuvik, Canada some 120 miles north of the Arctic Circle,they’re both searching for answers about a family member. Fay’s grandfather has gone missing and Nelson has an estranged older brother he needs to find.
Is it possible that these two men are linked and stranger still, that they are all linked to one of the greatest enduring mysteries of polar exploration.?
As time melts away and the past reappears, the ghostly ships of making their way through the ice fields of the 1800s start to come into focus.
Prepare for a journey like no other
Travel Guide
The Northwest Passage – a sea route from the Western Atlantic to Eastern Pacific Ocean has the most amazing story behind it and which is fictionalised in this novel.
There was to be an expedition Erebus and Terror – a journey through the North West Passage through these waters which would be an attempt to try and find a passage through the ice fields which would take boats al the way to China.
It was a big undertaking and in 1845, John Barrow, Crozier and his crew set off. 2 boats and 129 men who would never return
The expeditions was supposed to take around three years. Two whaling ships spotted the expedition in July 1845 so thought all was well but this was the last time anyone heard from those on board.
Both Barrow and Crozier were worried about the trip and wrote several letters home to their families
It’s in this novel that the expedition is brought back to life, from the conditions on the ship to the excitement of a potential groundbreaking discovery.
The flash forward to the present day and a watch has been found in the Greenwich observatory which could have been one of the objects lost at sea. Fay travels to the North West Passage as she’s seen this watch before. it’s there that someone else has a brother who has also unearthed clues about this sailing enigma and so the whole tale is brought back to life.
Letters from those on board see the light of day, the ghosts of the ships sail through every page but the mystery of one of the greatest polar mysteries is examined.
Booktrailer Review
Susan: @thebooktrailer
How have I managed never to have heard of this true story? I’ve read a lot of fiction set in the Arctic and love the sense of historic explorations, discoveries etc. Clocks and chronometers – another one of my obsessions. This book brought them all together and more.
The cover caught mu eye for a start – the maps, the clocks , pictures of men exploring the ice fields, pulling packs on their expedition… Trailing involved. All of this with a true story into the mix and I was captivated.
It’s quite a complicated tale and the time frames back and forth did get a bit confusing I have to admit. There were multiple journeys and characters accounted for and various viewpoints which it does take a little getting used to. But the common thread through the novel, in the present day with Fay and Nelson helped to bring it all together.
The mystery of al those years ago was brought vividly to life from the internal squabbles of those on board, to the pressures of the time and the everyday life on a ship with limited supplies and the very possibility that escape at some point might not be an option. There was a sense that this was the Bermuda triangle of its day but it was the mysterious chronometer which resurfaced and its origins discovered by the Greenwich observatory which really held my interest. I was as excited as Fray and Nelson in finding out hat was the truth behind the mystery but I also felt as if I was on those ships in the middle of one of the most exciting expeditions of all time!
There is an awful lot of detail and research into this book and whilst at times i thought it did get a little bogged down by this,overall the story evokes the time and place and the excitement of such an historical exploration.
A story worth getting on board with – I can guarantee you’l be googling and researching with the rest of them once you’re done.
Booktrail Boarding Pass Information: Minds of Winter
Author/Guide: Ed O’Loughlin Destination: North West Territories, the Arctic, Antarctica Departure Time: 1840s, 2000s
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