Under A Pole Star by Stef Penney

Flora Mackie grew up as the daughter of a whaling captain.  As a single parent, he made the decision to take his daughter with him on his yearly expeditions to the North to hunt whales so Flora grew up familiar with the environment, her friends Eskimo children.  When she was an adult, her only dream was to return and do scientific work in the area as it was still mainly unexplored and not much was known about the weather and other features.

Other individuals had this same yearning.  In particular, there was a race to be the first to get to the North Pole and many expeditions were mounted to do so.  One was led by Lester Armitage, an explorer who was willing to bend any rules in order to get results.  His crew was evenly divided between those who wanted to explore uncharted territory and those interested in scientific work in the area.  Jakob de Beyn was one of the scientists, interested in the geographic information that could be gained. 

On expeditions to the North, Flora and Jakob meet.  There is an instant connection and when they both returned home, they met again and a love affair started.  Flora was married but to a man who was disabled from an accident and the affair broke off when he had a health crisis.  The two met again in later years on expeditions and the affair was reignited.  They had in common their love for the land and their dislike of Armitage who Jakob held responsible for his best friend's death. 

This novel allows the reader to go to these frigid lands without leaving the comfort of their home.  The story line goes back and forth in time, between the expeditions the two main characters went on and the final expedition in 1948 where the North Pole was finally reached.  The two main characters are interesting, especially Flora who had to fight the mores of her time and the strictures against women having control of their own lives.  This book is recommended for readers of historical fiction.