What an inspiring, daunting journey! I love historical fiction and the experiences I imagine while traveling through history in the story. This story has certain actual events and actual people from history tossed in with the fictional story, and I googled a lot of information because the story piqued my interest!
We follow Virginia and the diverse collection of fellow female adventurers on their Artic expedition, thanks to an insistent Lady Franklin who wants to know what happened to her husband. The story goes back and forth from their adventures to the trial where Virginia is accused of murdering one of the several women who never returned from the expedition.
I'm impressed with the research involved in this story. I felt as if I was back in the 1840s on the ship, traveling across the frigid tundra, fighting for my life, and caring about the band of women thrown together. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me a copy of this interesting novel. ( )

A search party composed entirely of women, heading to the Arctic in the 1800s, sounded like it might be an interesting plot for a historical fiction novel. I won't repeat the details of the book summary listed on Goodreads, as that is easy to view.

I will say I was deeply disappointed in the lack of descriptive and historical details in the story, so I almost DNFed the book at the 50% mark. The author really lost an opportunity to educate the reader about the environment and how the group would have prepared food or set up camp for an expedition to the Arctic region. Instead everything was generalized, despite the constant dangerous conditions the group would have encountered. As for the characterization, the women often came across as insecure, petty and ill-prepared. I viewed this as a fictional soap-opera that just happened to be set in the past, so I added this book to my "historical fiction lite" shelf. As I've stated in a few others reviews, I wish books such as this would be categorized within a different subgenre, instead of historical fiction.

A lot of readers really liked this book, so please don't be put off by my review or low rating. If you are looking for an entertaining fictional story about a trek into the unknown, then you might like this novel. However, if you are looking to learn something about the Arctic region or what travel conditions may have been for an expedition during the 1800s, I suggest you look elsewhere.

ATW: Arctic/Antarctic region

(Review edited: 01/26/2022) ( )

I’ve been a big fan of Greer Macallister for a long time so when I saw that she had a new book out, I knew I had to get my hands on it. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. This book follows the journey of Virginia Reeves as she leads herself and 12 women to the Arctic to look for Lady Franklin’s missing husband. That’s just the start. The story is told in alternating sections between the court room in October 1854 and the Expedition. The book has twists and turns and keeps you guessing on whether Virginia is innocent or guilty in the murder of Caprice Collins. I absolutely loved this book, but it was a little hard to initially get into but once I was pass that stage, the book just takes off and all you can do is hold on! Highly recommend this book for the wild adventure and amazing storytelling - almost felt like I was in the courtroom watching the trial take place!! ( )

In the mid-1800s, Virginia is asked by Lady Franklin to head up a women’s expedition to the Arctic to find her husband and his two lost ships. But it is to be a secret as to who hired her. And Lady Franklin chooses the majority of the women who are going… and one of the women she chooses is a rich spoiled girl, Caprice. Unfortunately (this is not a spoiler, as we know this at the start of the book), Caprice died while on the expedition and her parents have accused Virginia of murdering Caprice. Virginia is now on trial for Caprice’s murder, but Virginia insists she didn’t kill the girl, though they really didn’t get along.

This goes back and forth in time between Virginia’s trial and the expedition. Caprice is a character who is easy to dislike, so I was surprised at my reaction (of course, I knew it would come) when she finally died – it still hit me. Leading up to her death, Virginia and Caprice were coming around and learning to get along. There were some other unlikable characters in the book, as well.

I listened to the audio, and although initially I wasn’t sure if the narrator would keep my attention, I was kept interested. As I skim through other reviews, I see that Virginia was based on a real person. It’s unfortunate that was no author’s note to tell me that. I do like author’s notes in my historical fiction so I know what really happened and what didn’t. I know about the Franklin Expedition and I could have guessed that there was never a women’s expedition to find Franklin, his ships and crew. ( )

What really happened on the ice?...
As a fan of Franklin's Lost Expedition, the story of an all female crew to the Arctic to find answers had me drawn in immediately. Greer Macallister does a fantastic job of weaving different timelines, backgrounds, cultures, and characters into an addicting read. Fans of Arctic expeditions and Lady Franklin, as well as strong literary female roles, will appreciate this masterfully written story. ( )