"In 1960, when the legendary icebreaker Magga Dan set sail for Antarctica, it contained a secret. Hiding on board was Nel Law, wife of expedition leader Phillip Law. She would make history by becoming the first Australian woman to set foot on the icy continent, but it was her art that would change everything.
Though a talented artist, Nel has always been defined by her role as ‘the explorer’s wife’, but in the clear expanse of the Southern Ocean, her true self is finally allowed to emerge. Despite misogyny from the all-male crew and increasing resentment from her mercurial husband, Nel’s art begins to flourish. Her new friend, a gentle ornithologist, encourages her to explore, but as the ship ploughs on towards Antarctica, rumours swirl, threatening her marriage and the tenuous peace between the controlling Phillip and his crew. In the clear, white light of the south, Nel will be forced to confront the truth of herself and the man to whom she has dedicated her life.
This stunning reimagining of Nel Law’s life reveals a ground-breaking artist searching for freedom in a world where women’s lives were still defined by their husbands."
"For paramedics Tash and Joel, a regular workday is like a supercut of the worst days of other people’s lives. They maintain their sanity through a friendship built on black humour, but as the constant exposure to trauma takes its toll, both, in different ways, must fight to preserve their mental health and relationships – even with one another. How much pressure can they handle, and what will happen when they finally crack? With each chapter revolving around an emergency – some frightening, some moving, some simply funny – Rachael Mead digs beneath the surface of gore and grit to lay bare the humanity of emergency services personnel and their patients. This breathtaking novel reveals not only the trauma of a life lived on the front line of medicine, but also the essential, binding friendships that make such a life possible.
‘Mead tells us how it is to be a paramedic – there is no euphemism, no sugar coating – but she does it with such compassion and humour that there is never a need to turn away. In-fact, I couldn’t put it down.’ PIP WILLIAMS
‘A delicate story with blood and guts’ STEVEN AMSTERDAM
A book for our times’ MOLLY MURN
‘Tender, riveting and funny’ REBEKAH CLARKSON
‘Authentic and original.’ PETER GOLDSWORTHY
‘A brilliant-cut gem’ MARGARET MORGAN"
