At the turn of the twentieth century, Arctic explorer Edward Mackley sets out to reach the North Pole & vanishes into the icy landscape without a trace. He leaves behind a young wife, Emily, who awaits his return for decades, her dreams & devotion gradually freezing into rigid widowhood. A hundred years later, on a sweltering mid-summer`s day, Edward`s great-gr&-niece Julia moves through the old family house, attempting to impose some order on the clutter of inherited belongings & memories from that ill-fated expedition, & taking care to ignore the deepening cracks within her own marriage. But as afternoon turns into evening, Julia makes a discovery that splinters her long-held image of Edward & Emily`s romance, & her husband Simon faces a precipitous choice that will decide the future of their relationship. Sharply observed & deeply engaging, The Still Point is a powerful literary debut, & a moving meditation on the distances
- geographical & emotional
- that can exist between two people.