REVIEW: "The Arctic Fury" by Greer Macallister
I'm not really what one would call "adventuresome".
I like the outdoors — if by "the outdoors" you mean sitting on the porch with a cocktail and a book. But, the minute it drops below 50 or rises over 80, I'm ready to retire to the comfort of my bug-free, climate-controlled, home.
And forget about venturing into the uncharted and unwelcoming wilds. I once lost the man-worn path that my husband, children, and I had followed down to a creek in a nearby 5-acre wood, and my mind IMMEDIATELY filled with scenes of our survival. We would, I imagined, have to band together and use our combined knowledge — of which my 11- and 4-year-old sons had little — to decide which plants were edible. We would have to ration the half cup of iced coffee that remained of the Panera cold brew I had carried into the woods with me.
Needless to say, we found the path almost immediately and none of these scenes played out in real life.
That said, though, it should come as no surprise that I wouldn’t choose to sign up for any rugged expedition. Particularly not one into the Arctic.
There are, however, many women suited for this type of luxury-light travel. And these women were at the heart of this Greer Macallister novel.
Virginia Reeves is a woman very unlike me. She thrives on unknowns and is as unafraid of adventure as she is undaunted by creepy, crawly bugs and menacing, hungry polar bears.
Virginia has proven herself an expert in wilderness survival at a time when women were discouraged from such pursuits. And it is because she has these skills, so uncommon in a woman of the time, that she is approached by Lady Jane Franklin, a wealthy woman whose husband is missing.
Most of the world assumes that Lady Jane’s husband died, along with the rest of his party, while on his own Arctic expedition. But Lady Jane asserts that her husband may well still be alive. And she’s willing to make a significant financial investment in his potential return.
Though several other expeditions endeavoring to find her husband have failed, Lady Jane is confident that this one will succeed.
Because it will be different.
It will, by Lady Jane’s design, be made up entirely of women.
Intrigued by this almost unimaginable prospect, Virginia agrees to lead this expedition.
Luck would not be on her side, though.
We discover pretty much immediately that this expedition — which one could logically guess would be ill-fated — didn’t go well as, in alternating chapters, we see expedition leader, Virginia, in court. She is facing serious charges related to one of the arguably avoidable failures that occurred in the Arctic and, if found guilty, could face harsh punishment.
This begs the question, what went so wrong during this frigid trek? And, just as importantly, will Virginia be forced to pay for any mistake she may have made with her life?
The plot of this novel itself was pregnant with possibility. The prospect of anyone venturing into the Arctic, particularly in the technology-free 1850s when this novel was set, is daunting. Add to that the fact that this expedition would be comprised entirely of women, the majority of whom had little to no previous survival experience to recommend them for such an undertaking, and success seems almost laughably improbable.
Macallister succeeded here in establishing a variety of rich and robust settings.
Unfortunately, though, I found the weaknesses of this book to outweigh the strengths.
My primary challenge was the pacing of this novel. Almost from page one, the book moved incredibly slowly. This was, perhaps, somewhat unavoidable as much of the novel was dedicated to recounting a seemingly interminable journey.
Macallister did try to break up this logically boring journey — day after day after day of trekking through the cold white nothingness. Seemingly to lessen the unavoidable monotony, she peppered in gradually escalating courtroom scenes.
These scenes, in which our primary protagonist essentially fought for her life were some of the most enjoyable of the book. And the juxtaposition was beautiful, our protagonist fighting against the manmade intimidation of the inequitable justice system in the present in the same way she had fought against the naturally intimidating threats of the Arctic in the past. But they weren’t enough to make up for what became a tedious read.
In fairness I do understand why describing this long journey slowly and methodically and painfully might have been necessary. It did, in some ways, make the reader feel what the women on this expedition might have felt. But as a reader, it definitely didn't make me eager to pick up this book day after day and delve back into this harsh and cruel world.
Another issue I encountered was the constantly shifting perspective.
The narrative voice of this book shifted from character to character, alternating between a half-dozen different narrators, seemingly with no pattern.
While this might seem to produce a more robust tale, providing insights into the thoughts and feelings and ideas of more than just the expedition leader, Virginia, what it really did was make it harder for me to feel any real connection to any of the women.
While sticking to one perspective might not have been ideal either, the novel could have benefited from Macallister at least limiting the scope.
As Macallister has done in her previous works, readers of this novel were transported back in time. Unfortunately, though, it was difficult to maintain interest in what should have been a compelling plot.
Diehard fans of historical fiction might find something to love here, as the story is distinctive, but casual readers will likely find their focus waning.
This novel earns 3 out of 5 cocktails.
Do you like it when authors shift perspective throughout a novel, or do you prefer if all of the narration comes from on POV? Tell me about it in the comments, below.
Andddddddd moving right along. I’m super excited about my next read. Want to see what it is? Subscribe to updates in the sidebar on the right and follow me on Goodreads.
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*I was provided a gifted copy of this title by the publisher*
