Xsun at Midnight Book People - Softcover

Thomas Rosie

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0007775938 ISBN 13: 9780007775934

Publisher: Harper Collins Promotion, 2006

Synopsis

In a quiet corner of Oxford, Alice Pell's life unfolds smoothly in the shadows of her pioneering mother Margaret. But when Alice's relationship collapses and Margaret is taken seriously ill, her ordered world falls apart. She accepts an invitation to join a small team heading south to Antarctica. There, in a tiny, claustrophobic research station, she meets James Rooker, a man on the run from his past. In this harsh silver and ice-blue world, a spark ignites between them. But as Alice experiences a momentous awakening that will change her life forever, the barren beauty around them threatens the group. And when they return to the everyday world, can the fragile bond between them survive?

About this title

Review:

'A compelling story juxtaposed with breathtaking descriptions of the landscape.' (Woman & Home)

'The majesty and hostility of the landscape leap off the page.' (The Daily Mail)

'Rosie Thomas writes with beautiful, effortless prose, and shows a rare compassion and a real understanding of the nature of love.' (The Times)

From the Author:

It is always intriguing to catch a glimpse of another world. I love novels that give me a picture of a place I have never visited, a slice of history or an insight into a different culture – the more exotic the better. For me, it’s a very strong element of the delight that utter immersion in a book can bring.
It works the other way round, too. When I travel it’s always with an eye open for a possible setting, an unfamiliar world I can recreate in fiction, and when I discover one there’s always a distinct shiver of recognition. This is what happened when I first saw Antarctica.
It is so beautiful, with an unearthly and forbidding loveliness to which no photograph or film can do justice. It is the harshest place on earth, and the most seductive to the imagination. Almost my first thought was that I wanted to set a novel there. The memory of the heroic narratives of Mawson, Scott and Shackleton was utterly daunting, but - maybe if I wrote a love story? Antarctica would be much more than just a setting. It would be both the place and the passion that drew my lovers together, forged their bond, and then threatened to destroy them.
My practical problem was how to get back there, not as a tourist but to live and work on the ice, however briefly. It is a difficult place to visit. You can’t just turn up and hope for the best.
In the end, I struck lucky. I was invited to spend a month in a tiny research station, alongside a dozen geologists and biologists. Even though they had satellite communications, hot showers, motorised skidoos, they were still pecariously perched on a promontory between the giant glaciers and the icebergs sailing in the bay. They were not so far removed from the old polar heroes.
I followed the scientists, who became my friends. I watched the ice and the mercurial weather, dreamed and worked and wrote, and out of that experience came Sun at Midnight.
I was in love when I wrote it, with a place and a time.
I hope you will enjoy my lovers’ passion and their adventure – and that the book will also give you that precious glimpse of another world.

About this edition

• Publisher: Harper Collins Promotion
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0007775938
• ISBN 13: 9780007775934
• Binding: Paperback