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A World with No Shore
- Author
- Hélène Gaudy
- Narrator
- Katherine Littrell
- Publisher
- Blackstone Publishing
- Publish Date
- 12 July 2022
- Run Time
- 8 hours 7 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
What to expect
The surprise French bestseller—a brilliant contemporary twist on the historical novel
I can’t go with you. Spring 1897: Anna Charlier farewells her fiancé Nils, the explorer, as he sets off to conquer the world. She will endure many years of waiting and the unknown, will marry and move continents, but will never be able to forget.
Summer 1930, Svalbard, Norway: a walrus-hunting boat sets sail for White Island, one of the last lands before the North Pole. The melting ice has revealed terrain that is usually inaccessible. As they move across the island, the men discover bodies and the remains of a makeshift camp. It is the solution to a mystery that has hung in the air for thirty-three years: the disappearance in July 1897 of Salomon August Andrée, Knut Frænkel, and Nils Strindberg as they tried to reach the North Pole in a hot air balloon. Among the remains some rolls of negatives are found, and one hundred images are retrieved.
Based on these lunar-like black-and-white photographs and the expedition logbook, Hélène Gaudy retraces and reimagines this great adventure that was blown off course, weaving in the painfully beautiful love affair of Nils and Anna. From the conquest of the skies to the exploration of the poles, this haunting and brilliant award-winning novel, set in the ethereal landscape of the Arctic, reflects on the human need to discover, describe, conquer, and ultimately shrink the world.
For fans of Anna Funder, Maggie O’Farrell, Eleanor Catton, and W. G. Sebald.
Critics Review
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“With a touch of wistfulness and melancholy, Katherine Littrell narrates this fictional account of three Swedish explorers lost in the Arctic in 1897.”
AudioFile
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“Luminous…the beautiful prose weaves a net of wonder around you.”
Nikki Gemmell, author of Dissolve
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“A book that blurs the boundaries between history, fiction, and reportage.”
Kate Forsyth, author of Bitter Greens
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“[A] taut rumination on grief, memory, and human connection. Hélène Gaudy’s exquisite prose will hook you from the very first line.”
Lauren Chater, author of Gulliver’s Wife
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“Gaudy fully inhabits this dazzling story of exploration, mystery, and loss, in a sweep of human endeavor.”
Robyn Mundy, author of Cold Coast
User Reviews
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Details
- Author
- Hélène Gaudy
- Narrator
- Katherine Littrell
- Duration
- 8 hours 7 minutes
- Release Date
- 12 July 2022
- ISBN
- 9798200957514
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Blackstone Publishing
- Genre
- Historical fiction, Fiction: general and literary
Synopsis
The surprise French bestseller—a brilliant contemporary twist on the historical novelI can’t go with you. Spring 1897: Anna Charlier farewells her fiancé Nils, the explorer, as he sets off to conquer the world. She will endure many years of waiting and the unknown, will marry and move continents, but will never be able to forget.Summer 1930, Svalbard, Norway: a walrus-hunting boat sets sail for White Island, one of the last lands before the North Pole. The melting ice has revealed terrain that is usually inaccessible. As they move across the island, the men discover bodies and the remains of a makeshift camp. It is the solution to a mystery that has hung in the air for thirty-three years: the disappearance in July 1897 of Salomon August Andrée, Knut Frænkel, and Nils Strindberg as they tried to reach the North Pole in a hot air balloon. Among the remains some rolls of negatives are found, and one hundred images are retrieved.Based on these lunar-like black-and-white photographs and the expedition logbook, Hélène Gaudy retraces and reimagines this great adventure that was blown off course, weaving in the painfully beautiful love affair of Nils and Anna. From the conquest of the skies to the exploration of the poles, this haunting and brilliant award-winning novel, set in the ethereal landscape of the Arctic, reflects on the human need to discover, describe, conquer, and ultimately shrink the world.For fans of Anna Funder, Maggie O’Farrell, Eleanor Catton, and W. G. Sebald.
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