Polar Wives

Book excerpt: The lives and adventures of seven intrepid women are revealed in “this gem of a book . . . as captivating as the northern landscape itself” (Portland Book Review). Polar explorers were the superstars of the "heroic age" of exploration, a period spanning the Victorian and Edwardian eras. In Polar Wives, Kari Herbert reveals the unpredictable, often heartbreaking lives of seven remarkable women whose husbands became world-famous for their Arctic and Antarctic expeditions. As the daughter of a polar explorer, Herbert brings a unique and intimate perspective to these stories. In her portraits of the gifted sculptor Kathleen Scott; eccentric traveler Jane Franklin; spirited poet Eleanor Anne Franklin; Jo Peary, the first white woman to travel and give birth in the High Arctic; talented and determined Emily Shackleton; Norwegian singer Eva Nansen; and her own mother, writer and pioneer Marie Herbert, Kari Herbert blends deeply personal accounts of longing, betrayal, and hope with stories of peril and adventure. Previously consigned to historical footnotes, these pioneering women played vital roles in their husbands' expeditions. Their stories—many drawn from previously unpublished journals and letters—take us not only to the polar wastelands but also through war-torn Macedonia, the lawless outback of Australia, and the plague-riddled ancient cities of the Holy Land.