If you want to read an astounding work of historical fiction with a feminist bent, read Under a Pole Star by Stef Penney.
What attracted me to this book, at first, was the story of a daughter accompanying her father on a polar expedition.
Somewhere I had heard that story before. Pictures of Robert Peary's daughter wrapped in furs came to mind.
Flora Mackie's story isn't based on Marie Peary's but some of the details match. The press made much of Marie Peary's allure. She became known world wide as the Snow Baby, as the Greenlanders called her.
In Stef Penney's novel Flora's story is sensationalized, too, except she is called the Snow Queen. Flora capitalizes on this to launch her return to the Arctic, a move her father does not support.
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This magical YA novel will have readers rooting for Bristal, an orphan raised by a cook. Bristal has a feisty, take-no-prisoners spirit that will resonate well with teens.
Even though she is kidnapped and forced into the Water, which has killed many, she refuses to lose hope.
Bristal chooses to work as an elicromancer after she is tested at the Water. Her mentor, Brack, gives her the choice which she accepts, even if there are many drawbacks.
After training, she becomes a a clandestine who can disguise herself as other people or animals.
Her first assignment is to protect a princess but she soon finds herself taking the form of a boy and fighting with the Alliance against a group of rebel elicromancers.
Though being an elicromancer means forsaking love, she is taken with Anthony, the renegade Prince.
Since she must save the lost duchess, create harmony among the warring kingdoms, and defeat Tamarice, Bristal knows she cannot allow herself to fall in love.
Will love win out?
Strange forces are at work throughout this novel. Bristal's past, her childhood in Poppleton, may be the key to helping her quell the evil uprising that threatens the kingdoms of Nissera, Calgoran, and Volarre.
Magic is strong but never underestimate the power of love.
