In the last half of the novel, a novel primarily focused upon desire, Flora finds herself caught up in a love affair with Jakob.
Their paths have crossed before. At Neqi, they felt a connection which resulted in a three year correspondence.
In Jakob de Beyn, Flora finds and rejects the love of her life. She has a five-day affair with Jakob. Soon afterwards, when her husband becomes sick again with a paralytic stroke, Flora makes a choice. She refuses to see Jakob again.
Here Flora resembles many of the Victorian and early twentieth century heroines literature so frequently portrays. There is a "price" she realizes she has to pay. She feels she owes a debt to her husband, Freddie, for funding her trip to the North.
Jakob, too, represses his desire for the illustrious "Snow Queen," as Flora is known. He chooses to become an engaged to a woman, Clara, who loves him as a friend. She is lesbian and will never desire him romantically.
(Part 2)
(Part 1)
This historical novel has an undeniable feminist bent. Flora gravitates towards a mentor who brings her to London and who helps her fulfill her long held desire to return to Ellesmere island.
(photo by Noel Bauza, https://pixabay.com/en/users/Noel_Bauza-2019050/
Sadly, in order to secure funding she must make a marriage of convenience with a man who shares her interests but who does not love or cherish her.
In becoming a "new woman" like her mentor, she has had to make some awful sacrifices.
Flora marries Freddie, for one thing, whose influence and money help her return to the Arctic. Though Flora can continue pursuing her career, Freddie cruelly mistreats her.
Though Flora is a friend and advocate of the Inuit, she finds herself removing their mummified remains. Bringing Inuit remains to Europe would raise the importance of the expedition or so she thinks.
(continued from Part 1)
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.
(continued)
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
