The Navigator Of New York

Set in the early years of the 20th century and centred round the race between Robert Peary and Frederick Cook to the North Pole, this is in part a novel about the lure of the Pole for American explorers. Johnston describes the mental and emotional reactions of the explorers faced with polar conditions and Eskimos whose language and culture they do not understand. There are powerful passages dealing with the phenomenon of enduring days which consist of 'an hour-long twilight'. Beyond the narrative framework, however, the novel is about the relationship between fathers and sons. Devlin Stead, the protagonist, discovers that he is not the son of a man he has always thought of as his father. Devlin reacts strongly to this discovery. Both his biological and his adoptive father were involved with expeditions, and consequently, he himself embarks upon a journey of discovery, seeking both to understand the hostile relationship between two major explorers, and to find his own true nature. At the end of the novel, he is able to understand and forgive his mother, and, for the first time, fully to embrace love. This is a breathtaking novel, beautifully plotted and rich in character and incident. Most striking of all is the evocation of place - bustling New York contrasted with the desolate cold of the Arctic, which in turn reflects the suffering Devlin undergoes. A great achievement. (Kirkus UK)