You’ll get to meet 85 yr old Veronica. She doesn’t have family or friends near to where she lives in the UK. Not that she knows about, anyway . . . And she has no idea where she’s going to leave her considerable wealth when she dies. But today . . . today Veronica is going to make a decision that will change all of this. So, for a Novel set in Antarctica – Away with the Penguins by Hazel Prior is the one you need!

 BookTrail Travel to the locations in Away with the Penguins

 Novel set in Antarctica – Away with the Penguins by Hazel Prior

First of all  a warning – there is a cute overload of penguins. At the same time, this novel is very poignant and may end up with you shedding a tear or two.

Veronica has to be one of the funniest, misunderstood and charming characters in fiction. I warned to her wit and moans about life immediately. Snippets include mutterings about how people who throw litter on the beach should be shot for example. Don’t drink orange juice when reading unless you want it coming down your nose. Veronica is one of those women who people might find odd, call her an old bat etc but she’s the fountain of all knowledge, full of wisdom and love, but just very lonely.

Veronica could teach us all a thing or two about love, loss, life and everything in between. There’s an environmental message, one about the importance of caring for others, animals included. What I found refreshing is that Veronica is the kind of person that has to get stuff done and she is often called bossy or forceful by others.

So, when the whole world is against you, or if just feels that way, Veronica wants to do something and so goes to Antarctica to save the penguins. It’s whether she saves them or they save her that is the question. She’s on a very personal quest here and it’s ;lovely to read about her internal journey and the one she takes to the coldest place on earth.

Despite the cold in the outside setting, there is so much warmth and huggable moments in this book that I was surprised to find the antarctic ice inside and on the cover hadn’t melted and that there wasn’t a puddle underneath it.