All the White Spaces

The book I read before this was 'The Lighthouse', claimed to be a ghost story but that had no ghosts other than in over-egged non-suspense. 'All The White Spaces' turns out to include 'real' ghosts that can kill the unwary ia bleak landscape of unremitting snow. An amazing story of man's (and woman's) fight for life in the Antarctic. Look up the locations and images on Google Maps while you are reading this to get an idea of just how dangerous and frightening this place can be. Abnsolutely loved this superb story.

Since getting a wee bit older, my reading speed has slowed down, so I don't often pick up big tomes like this. But, I'd had it on my TBR and Kindle for a while and thought it would make a great companion piece for Michelle Paver's Dark Matter, so I dove in.There's a fair bit of scene setting and introductions to begin with as we get to know the characters on their journey south, all incredibly well written and, evidently, extremely well researched.The pay-off for this comes when things start to go wrong. We have a much more intimate knowledge of the characters wants, fears, etc, and it makes the horror hit home that much harder.Speaking of horror, of course the horror of the inhospitable land, the cold, what it can do to a person is horrifically portrayed throughout. But when the *real* horror shows up in this book, it is truly terrifying.It took me some time to get through, but I ended up absolutely loving this in the end, highly recommended.

This book was pretty infuriating to get through. There are a number of reasons for this. The first is the author's really annoying habit of truncating the dialogue throughout. Unfinished sentences. Lots of "Yes, but I saw.." and "I was just ..." etc. Really annoying. Second is that nothing creepy happens for most of the book. I am all for slow burners but this was really pushing it. Third is that the whole trans thing was never properly examined. It was just hinted at and not fully fleshed out. I get that the author was writing of this subject from the perspective of the age, but it was frankly unrealised. In the context of the character it seemed an afterthought. Not really a sense of it being an important part of the narrative.

I was hooked from the very first page and completely drawn in to the setting of post-WWI Antarctic expedition. Perfect reading for a cold windy night. As I neared the end of the book yesterday news broke of the discovery of Earnest Shackleton's lost ship Endurance - spooky timing as I finished the last gripping section of the story. Haunting and atmospheric.

Wonderful book

Great story with historic detail, an easy read with a difference. Try it!

I was absolutely engrossed in this story. It's so incredibly vivid. Recommended.

Far too long and ridiculous.We are supposed to believe that an upper class girl can escape from England to South America without detection, then stow away on an Antarctic vessel. When she is discovered she is magically able to endure heavy manual labour, run up and down the rigging, and fire a rifle ( having never handled one before, or indeed done anything unladylike before).And how does she manage her periods without someone cottoning on?Just read Michelle Paver's stunning Dark Matter instead.