Longlisted for the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction 2017.

'Ed O'Loughlin is a skilled cartographer of both the Arctic and the human heart. What a magnificent novel' Ron Rash
'A brilliant paean to the obsessions of the polar explorers . . . stupendously good' Australian
'Vastly entertaining' Sunday Times

FROM BOOKER-LONGLISTED ED O'LOUGHLIN: THE PERFECT NOVEL FOR FANS OF AMY SACKVILLE'S THE STILL POINT AND FRANCIS SPUFFORD'S I MAY BE SOME TIME.

It begins with a chance encounter at the top of the world.

Fay Morgan and Nelson Nilsson have each arrived in Inuvik, Canada - 120 miles north of the Arctic Circle - searching for answers about a family member: Nelson for his estranged older brother, Fay for her disappeared grandfather. They soon learn that these two men have an unexpected link - a hidden share in one of the greatest enduring mysteries of polar exploration.

"A spellbinding tale of adventures and explorers, spies and outlaws, of derring-do, self-sacrifice and impossible feats of endurance . . . In the sheer brio of its storytelling, it brings to mind Salman Rushdie's The Enchantress of Florence or David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas - profound, yes, but terrific fun, too." - Irish Examiner

"[A] brilliant paean to the obsessions of the polar explorers . . . stupendously good." - Australian

"In both concept and execution the novel is a serious piece of work at once vastly entertaining and ambitious." - Sunday Times

"A compelling and hugely ambitious novel." - Mail on Sunday

"An extraordinary tale that warps actual history into something conjoined, poetic and thrilling . . . [A] marvel of a novel." - Independent on Sunday

"With each novel, O'Loughlin is expanding his interests and his imaginative grasp - the first sign of a genuinely talented writer. He is rapidly becoming one of the most interesting novelists currently at work." - Sunday Business Post

"The Franklin novel to end all Franklin novels. Never have so many different narrative threads been taken up and twined together." - Arctic Book Review

"A novel wondrous in its tone and reach . . . the final pages seem inevitable as great endings must . . . The title is from Wallace Stevens poem The Snowman, where we're asked to behold the 'Nothing that is not there and the nothing that is.' It takes a good writer to take that on. It takes a great one to succeed." - Irish Times

"Intricately structured . . . thoroughly researched . . . The Arctic itself is a central character." - Times Literary Supplement