Three memorable historical figures are at the centre of this admirable historical adventure story, set in the last decades of the nineteenth century: Roland Kruger, German second mate hired for the 1871-72 Polaris expedition, his superior and increasingly his nemesis, Lt. George Tyson, and Hannah (Tukulito) Ebierbing, the first professional translator of the Inuit (then called Esquimau) language. During a heavy winter storm part of the Polaris crew is adrift in the passage between Greenland and Baffin Island. Canadian novelist Steven Heighton takes the historical accounts, Tyson's published book on the astounding six-months survival in the Arctic as the starting point for this extraordinary novel.Superbly framed by an insightful introduction to the primary characters, and an extensive concluding section consisting of the three "after-stories", Heighton re-imagines the endurance and survival of a motley crew of different nationalities and two Inuit families, nineteen in total, caught with few supplies on an ice floe of constantly decreasing size, and shifting directions. Not surprisingly, the desperate conditions of the group, confined to a small space and struggling under extreme circumstances deteriorate to infighting, violence and unreasonable and even dangerous behaviour. The situation is exacerbated by the growing personality clashes between Tyson and the German crew on the one hand and between Tyson and Kruger on the other. By stark contrast, Tukulito, who plays a special role in the hearts of both, Tyson and Kruger, and her husband Ebierbing exude calm, patience and diligence. With previous experience as guide, hunter, cook they are the overall survival experts without whom the crew would perish.With his outstanding aptitude for character development and for creating believable scenarios, the author juxtaposes selected excerpts from Tyson's book account (tweaked to suit the story line) with his own version of what might have happened during the six months on the ice. Inserting in addition several of Tyson's original field notes, thereby illustrating discrepancies in fact and tone to the book version, Heighton leads the reader to question Tyson's honesty and even his sanity. In fact, he presents the reader with two alternative realities, one increasingly diverging from the other. By contrasting Tyson's notes and book excerpts with his own version, the author gives a voice to different players, in particular Kruger, the only German with a inquiring mind and without strong allegiances. His behaviour, though, is seen with growing suspicion by the other crewmembers, including his and Tukulito's subtly courteous interactions.The central section - the survival in the Arctic - may appear somewhat drawn out and long. However, careful reading opens the reader's eyes not only to the extraordinary dangers of the venture and shifting behaviour patterns among the crew, but also to subtle personality changes in the central characters. Tyson's admission that "it is never too late to become the man you might have been" does not only apply to him. Kruger's search for the other person in him is an ongoing struggle.In fact, Kruger emerges as the most interesting and appealing character. He can be seen as a kind of moral compass for human behaviour in extreme crisis situations. His inner conflicts - between obeying authority and becoming a "patriot only to the truth", between duty and emotion - weave like a leitmotiv through his life and through the novel. Kruger has no longer country to believe in; he is "his own country". Still, the need to belong to a group cannot be easily suppressed. Committed to be understood as "a pacifist objector", his resolve is nevertheless fundamentally challenged by circumstances.In the novel's major "Afterlands" section that compellingly closes the frame around the Arctic events, Heighton follows each of his three central characters as they continue their lives. Each has to live through more periods of external or internal tests before inner peace can even be seen as a possibility. Where historical records existed the author weaves them into his novel, as he does for Tyson and Tukulito. In the case of Kruger, where nothing much was known about his life, except that he left for the south, Heighton creates a most captivating and believable "after-story". Kruger, deeply disillusioned, ends up in the Sierra Madre region of Mexico, hoping for peace and a quiet life. Nobody, however, can easily jump out of his skin. Neither can Kruger escape more conflict, misunderstanding and abuse. At this stage, Heighton introduces new characters into the novel to complement Kruger's portrait. Among these, he introduces Kruger's new nemesis: the mysterious, highly intelligent and multilingual "Padre". Despite his high ideals, fed by French philosophers and admiring the German example, the Padre is, in effect, not a church representative, but a colonel and "an army onto himself". His function is to suppress the indigenous peoples in the region, to "pacify" the region and eliminate all who resist. Kruger's encounters with the Padre are memorable. He is forced to engage with his counterpart's game of power, control and his interpretation of progress. It forces Kruger to question his long-held belief of himself as a person, committed "to do no harm". How will he respond?Heighton's exquisitely written novel is so very rich in narrative, characters and philosophical and moral questions raised that a review can only touch on selected essential points. In his most recent novel, Every Lost Country, the author further expands on some of these fundamental issues, yet set in a contemporary context. While at one level a captivating adventure story, Heighton's novel is also an invitation to the reader to reflect on the deeper questions that are so well woven into the story.
This historical fiction was a refreshing change from some of the heavy reading our book club was doing.The story is based on the Polaris Expedition to the North Pole in 1871 during which 19 people were cast adrift on an ice flow and survived from October to April.History has records of Tyson, the leader of the failed expedition, and Hannah, the Inuit woman who played a large role in the survival of her castaways. Kruger has been painted by Tyson as one of the main troublemakers and mutineers. Others have contradicted Tyson's viewpoint and paint him as willing to help in any of the mishaps. The author builds his story around this person and his possible role in the ordeal and his life following the rescue.I enjoyed this book. Not only was it a good story, it was informative. I would recommend that a person read up on the Polaris Expedition prior to reading the book. The book does have details about the expedition, but prior knowledge gives a framework for the fictional part of the story.
Do You like book Afterlands (2007)?
This book started slow and barely picked up speed. Heighton has a great cast of characters to work with but does nothing with them. Every character is flat and stock, and you don't care about their lives, as you never see more than the surface. He creates a piece-meal book that focuses too long on ice-floe survival to only be about the after-effects of this traumatic experience but then focuses too long on the after-effects for it to be about the initial survival story. There was no element to grasp on to or be engaged with, making moving forward in this book tedious, painful and absolutely uninteresting.
—Al
This is the first book I've read as a result of a Goodreads recommendation, and I liked it. In the 1860s, 19 people were trapped on an iceberg in the North Atlantic for an entire winter with very little food and few supplies. The group included two Inuit families, German immigrants, and a black man. About half of the book took place in the Arctic, and the rest took place in the U.S. and Mexico after they survived their ordeal. It described, interestingly, what happens to people who are confined together in a small space with few resources, and I was also interested in how the book described the human desire for power.
—Diana
Afterlands, set in the 1870s, dramatizes the plight and the aftermath of explorers and seamen of different nationalities stranded on a shrinking ice-pan. In the true-life story of the Polaris expedition Heighton has found the perfect metaphor from which to explore the bankruptcy of nationalism and colonialism. He vividly depicts the way in which Aboriginal culture is appropriated and misrepresented after the event. Inuit hunters keep the Europeans and Americans alive somewhat against the odds but this does not prevent the triumphalist commander from smearing them as savages when he publishes his account of the adventure. The trauma ends up dividing the survivors into those who can live only away from western "civilizations" and those who cling to all-too-brittle notions of Victorian virtue.
—Paul Butler
