Some secrets won’t stay buried.
‘Scott’s lost expedition was still here, she thought – frozen, preserved, waiting to be rescued from the thaw. The truth lay beneath the surface, and she was going to bring it up.’
In 1912, five British explorers struggle across the freezing Antarctic landscape, through howling winds and plummeting temperatures, seeking the safety of their camp.
Today, as the world’s ice sheets begin to melt and surrender their secrets, renowned glacial archaeologist Missy Simpson works to discover the true cause of the explorers’ deaths – a subject that has intrigued researchers for more than a century.
Her colleague, Cambridge professor Jim Hunter, is working on his own scientific mysteries – and is willing to risk everything to solve them.
In hallowed halls of learning and on the icy polar plateau, these risk-takers must grapple with the unfathomable power of the natural world and the dramatically changing weather – while navigating their own complicated relationships.
Drawn from the pages of history and cutting-edge science, Thaw is a gripping read that will forever change how you see the frozen continent – and those who seek to conquer it.
Dennis Glover was educated at Monash and Cambridge universities and he has made a career as one of Australia’s leading speechwriters and political commentators. His first novel, The Last Man in Europe, was published around the world in multiple editions and was nominated for several literary prizes, including the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction. His second novel, Factory 19, was published in 2020, and his newest novel, Thaw, is forthcoming.
I’m not aware that there has been a great deal of historical fiction written about Antarctica or Scott’s South Pole mission in particular but Dennis Glover’s Thaw is a welcome contribution. I figured, as I started reading, that if I can learn something as well as being entertained by the story, that would be good.
As someone who knows Cambridge, has visited the Scott Polar Research Institute, has had a drink in the RAF Bar in The Eagle and has spent five days soaking in the silence and serenity of the Antarctic Peninsula, I felt a sense of affiliation and familiarity with where the story was taking me.
In writing fiction which pendulums between past and present, there is always the challenge to bring it all together at the end, to draw everything to a conclusion. In the case of Thaw, the author also had to officiate a mixed marriage of fact and fiction. Did he succeed? Yes, on both counts. Glover has most skilfully blended the factual and the fictional, the past and the present. Thaw is a good story worth telling and it has been told well. My only disappointment was in not seeing the odious Christopher Wolfson character get the humiliation and disgrace he so deserved.
And we never did find out about the Nazi darts.
Thaw is a polar exploration novel that examines tragic expedition led by Capt Robert Scott RN in 1910-13 that failed to reach the South Pole before Norwegian Amundsen. The story uses direct diary entries to describe the team traumas and decisions for survival and explores weather expectations for the man-hauledsled trip across the frozen continent. Dennis Glover weaves a complex narrative across 1913, 1923 and to 2023 by focusing on George Clarke Simpson the meteorologist for Scott’s team, and later on his grand-daughter and glacial archaeologist, Missy Simpson, and her professor Jim Hunter. Underscoring this storyline is the prospect of climate change and its impact on the Antarctic ice sheets and Ross Sea ice. To emphasize the theme Glover plunges the current day protagonists to Antarctica and directly traps them in rapid ice melting, and the surprise exposure of remnant items (and possible bodies) of Scott’s team. The story partly restores the reputation of the expedition leadership and team. A red herring was thrown into the story by a person handing over a nazi spear!
This novel reimagines Scott’s disastrous expedition to the South Pole. In 1912-13 the horrific weather conditions and the extreme cold temperatures endured by the five men on their trek to and from the Pole make for compelling and disturbing reading. Afterwards, in England, there was much debate about who was to blame. The chief culprit for many was the expedition’s meteorologist, Simpson, who failed to predict the weather endured by the polar trekkers.
The contemporary sections of the novel follow Simpson’s granddaughter, Missy, as she tries to show his critics wrong. In 2023 she is working on his biography at Cambridge. We share with her his diaries, letters and meteorological data. While working on these papers she learns of and stows away on the university expedition to Antarctica.
Its purpose was to examine the thaw of ice sheets and glaciers. The expedition hopes to”show the world more than a century of ice has gone… to prove climate deniers wrong in a way ordinary people can understand.’When she and two others are caught on a cracking ice sheet, experiencing conditions like those endured by Scott and his companions, the novel links past and present in an exciting climax.
Glover’s ambitious and optimistic purpose is to show how a new understanding of Antarctica’s weather, the effect it has on global warming and a new understanding of the interdependence of world weather systems is achieved. I was convinced.
Thaw is a gripping tale that had me absorbed from the first page. The description of the three degrees of shivering and facing death, while in dreadful pain from severe frostbite portrayed the horrific reality of an unforgiving environment. I felt engaged with the historical characters, wanting them to get motivated, even though I was fully aware of their grim ending.
Although many books have been written about Scott’s expedition, the author explores a new theory as to why Scott’s party of five died. The modern-day drama, set in 2023, provides light relief from the perils of Scott’s expedition 1911-12.
The fluctuation between the two time periods is clearly indicated with the place and year.
The list of historical characters and their role would be more useful at the start of the book, rather than after the author’s note, where it is hard to find. The map could also be more detailed.
The book’s ending felt rushed. Although these items have been found in Antarctica in real life, discovering them all within a few days as portrayed seems improbable.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and am keen to read more books by this author.
How I felt about the book: It made me feel sad because secrets from long ago are now being re-explored by risk takers.
Great writing and a captivating tale and very descriptive journey. I was kept engaged throughout the book and looked forward to each chapter, awaiting their struggles across Antarctica.
A captivating read of triumph, resilience and the amazing strength of humans. A great book about history, human emotion and the power of hope. An unforgettable journey of uncertainty and vulnerability.
The frozen landscape reflects on our own responsibility toward our planet and each other.
I haven’t read previous books by this author but may consider in the future.
Thaw by Dennis Glover tells a story based on the actual historical events of Scott’s failed 1912 expedition to the South Pole, resulting in the deaths of five intrepid explorers. Alongside the historical account is a fictitious present-day story about a scientist researching possible causes of the expedition’s failure.
Glover’s vivid writing style brings to life Scott’s party’s extremely arduous journey of 1800 miles, mostly on foot, and the explorers’ tortuous hardship and pain and bravery amidst the isolated, icy and perilous Antarctic conditions. The 2023 fictitious story, including a technologically equipped but still hazardous Antarctic expedition, is equally vividly described.
I enjoyed the development of complex, believable characters with insights into their hopes, struggles, complex relationships and dedication to understanding Antarctica.
This story is not only entertaining – it is also an engaging learning experience. Facts about the historical context of Scott’s expedition and concepts of meteorology, physics and climate change are woven into the narrative. It also poses some thought provoking philosophical and emotional ideas about human need for purposefulness and the impact of feeling guilt, failure and grief.
This book was a hard slog and I nearly gave up halfway through. The writing style just didn’t appeal to me. For the parts set in Cambridge in 2023, Missy seemed unrealistic with her attitude and anger, for example, when she threw the balled-up Wolfson review back to who had given it to her and stole the book from the bookshop – childish behaviour for someone studying a ph.D. The parts of the book that focussed on the Antarctic expedition from 1910-1913 were also very dry and I found it hard to stop my mind drifting during them.
If you’re particularly interested in Antarctic exploration, you might enjoy the parts of the book set in that time, otherwise I’d recommend skipping this one.
In November 1911 Captain Robert Scott set out with his polar party to trek 900 miles across Antarctica in their attempt to be the first to reach the South Pole. On the return journey from the Pole back to base camp at Cape Evans, they encountered abnormally low temperatures and the weather they experienced was unusual which led to the demise of the party of five, the last three men perishing very close to their base camp. Even though they weren’t the first to reach the Pole (being beaten by the Norwegians by a few weeks) they did leave a legacy in the collection of the daily high and low temperatures and barometric pressure readings, with this data leading to a better understanding by meteorologists of weather patterns.
I found this book engrossing and very informative about Antarctica, with the author’s historical and imaginative writing creating a thoroughly compelling book about climate change and an unsettling vision of where the planet is heading.
Historical novels are not really my thing, and my interest in Antarctic expeditions is lower than the South Pole itself, which is why I was pleasantly surprised to find that this novel kept me engrossed and interested throughout. I even learnt about glaciology and polar meteorology, both subjects which, I discovered, are much more interesting than I thought they’d be.
The novel jumps between two timelines – the ill-fated expedition led by Scott to be the first to reach the South Pole, and nowadays. The narrative kept me intrigued and fascinated, and the author skilfully brought the past to life in imagining just how those poor men in that expedition must have felt as the realisation of their impending doom slowly dawned on them. The poignancy in the writing and the empathy evoked brought a tear to my eye on more than one occasion. I was also impressed with how the writer managed to convey the importance of acting on climate change before it’s too late without coming across as preachy – no mean feat!
I believe this novel has something for everyone – there’s historical elements, drama, romance and documentary-type facets. This is not a book I would have selected on my own most likely, but I am grateful I received a copy to review as I did thoroughly enjoy every page.
Shifting between the present day and the early 1900s, the weather looms large in Dennis Glovers Thaw. This novel interrogates two academic debates – the contemporary politics of climate science as polar ice melts, and an unseasonal cold snap that may or may not have been responsible the untimely and traumatic demise of Scotts ill fated expedition to the South Pole, for which Simpson, chief meteorologist of the expedition has often been blamed.
Glover paints the cold and the trauma wrought on the freezing men vividly and viscerally – indeed I found myself wrapping the blanket around myself tighter as I read the many descriptions cold, such as shivering in which ‘one’s body shook violently and the jaw and the top of the mouth smashed together uncontrollably, cracking and breaking frozen teeth that ached as if being drilled without provocaine.’ Brr!
This well researched but sometimes dry novel will appeal to those who love an adventure story and who are interested in the mechanics and debates of both science and academia. The characters are lightly drawn, yet it does not detract from an enjoyable story. This book would make a great father’s day gift.
Asking myself on exploring the cover of a book, if travelling would I pick this book up in a bookshop for an interesting read. I wasn’t immediately drawn to this book from cover image or description of the story. I have been pleasantly surprised by this authors writing. Glover dragged me into the story from the moment I opened this book until ending.
Cleverly moulded history with modern day world, exploring the Scott expedition whilst touching on modern day climate change issues and effect on Antarctic in today’s world. I found this story educational and left me eagerly wanting to divulge more of this history.
The authors’ descriptive writing on the explorers and crew involved in the expedition had me thinking about how far we have come. His description on the trials and tribulations of travel in 1910 and how tough men were on such a long journey, compared to modern times going from one side of the world to another in a day amazed me.
Combine history, scientific discoveries, modern day issues whilst taking you on a journey of courage, comradery and the characters having to conquer barriers makes for a compelling book that all should endeavour to read.
Thaw by Dennis Glover is the historical fiction I didn’t know I needed.
I didn’t know much about expedition to the South Pole & I’m more drawn to the war time historical fiction but Thaw grabs you from the first page & keeps you hooked.
Learning what it was like to be in those conditions & what the explorers went through is amazing. The back & forth between 1911/12 & 2023 works seamlessly & there are elements that are relevant in todays times.
I highly recommend this book.
Having recently visited Antarctica I was excited for the opportunity to review Thaw by Dennis Glover and wasn’t disappointed.
With the story of Scott’s polar expedition fresh in my mind, Glover’s meticulously researched novel brings the human dimension to their suffering, giving bruising flesh to the bare-boned facts. He takes us on their 900 mile quest to be the first at the South Pole in the summer of 1911-12, only to find that Norwegian Roald Amundsen had beaten them a month earlier.
And then they had to travel 900 miles back.
The polar party faced the absolute limits of human endurance, and in their miserably weakened state from insufficient food and exhaustion, they succumbed to the devastatingly, unexpectedly cold temperatures. It was an unrelenting, cruel and sad ending made all the worse by the fact they came within 11 miles of their final supply depot. And it’s harrowing reading.
Intertwined with the Scott journey are two stories. George ‘Sunny Jim’ Simpson was the expedition team’s meteorologist. Simpson is engulfed in grief and guilt – did he provide Scott with wrong advice resulting in their deaths? He doggedly revisits his data and predictions, and continues to investigate climate science in the years that follow, making cornerstone revelations about the global nature of weather.
Fast forward to 2023, and Simpson’s great-granddaughter Missy is a visiting fellow at Cambridge University’s British Institute for Polar Studies where she is conducting research for a biography on Simpson (did he get the weather wrong?). Missy is headstrong and determined, and has had some recognition as a glacial archaeologist. Professor Jim Hunter is the Director of the Institute and their relationship provides some light-hearted moments, some romantic tension as well as some professional friction as both strive to achieve their own research goals. The rude and arrogant author Christopher Wolfson, representing climate change deniers and alternative fact believers, is somewhat stereotypical but gives Missy and Jim motivation to prove their theories and present evidence of climate change even if putting themselves at risk.
Scott’s expedition has been seen by some as a failure, but the valuable scientific data they collected has progressed knowledge of climate change as a global phenomenon.
In his author’s note, Glover appeals to contemporary research scientists to keep ‘the great frozen continent of Antarctica on the front pages again, where it needs to be’. Glover’s engaging, and gruelling, novel Thaw, is a great contribution itself towards this aim.
A fascinating book in the Antarctic Landscape, a place so very foreign to me – I was instantly intrigued. Historical fiction is not a genre that I am usually drawn to but double timelines made it easy to read and draws you into the narrative.
Thaw explores the original Scott expedition of 1911/12 and also modern day academics trying to understand exactly what happened based upon new evidence…
I really enjoyed the authors writing style as it made for a face paced and incredibly enjoyable novel.
Thanks to Good Reading Magazine for the advance copy of Thaw.
I found this novel hard going and struggled to finish it. I have to admit that although I like historical novels this type of story about polar exploration is not my normal genre so other readers may enjoy it more.
The novel jumps between the historical context of the ill-fated expedition led by Scott to the South Pole and contemporary times. There is a strong theme relating to climate change, which readers may find interesting.
The writing style didn’t appeal to me at all particularly in the parts set in the present day in Cambridge. I found the dialogue stilted and the characters poorly drawn and uninteresting.
Thaw by Dennis Glover is a novel blending history with a touch of mystery. This well-written, easy to follow, meteorological mystery takes us back 1912, to the chilling (literally!) Antarctic expedition of Robert Falcon Scott, you can see and feel the scenes right through to one’s bones. Thaw though is not so much about Scott but about chief meteorologist George Clark Simpson known as “Sunny Jim.” Though sadly Simpson’s role in the Scott expedition was anything but sunny. While most characters in the book were fairly two-dimensional, Simpson was the exception, a strong sense of the depression and trauma he would have experienced was conveyed. Useful inclusions for readers who want to understand the historical events in more detail include an author’s note and a list of historical characters. Forward to 2023, academics are warring over the role Simpson and the weather played in the death of Scott and party, a damning book has just been published and Simpson’s great-granddaughter and glacial archaeologist Missy Simpson is writing a book to highlight his integrity as a meteorologist and a man, but first she has a thrilling Antarctic adventure of her own to take…