Author(s): Jennifer Niven

Non-Fiction

Drawing on previously unpublished letters of journals of crew members, their descendants and, astonishingly, interviews with survivors, Jennifer Niven McJunkin's book is a riveting account of one of the most ambitious - and disastrous - Arctic expeditions ever mounted. The Karluk set off in September 1913 and the ship and its crew were soon imprisoned in ice, abandoned by the expedition's leader. For five bitter months those left behind eked out an existence on board, until they were forced to leave the ship when she was crushed by powerful ice floes. As they stood helplessly by the ship went down in January 1914 to the strains of Chopin's 'Funeral March' left playing on the Captain's Victrola. For two more months, the ship's company lived on the polar icepack.

Finally, the captain left his ailing crew to walk seven hundred arduous miles over the frozen Arctic to search for help. He reached civilization in May 1914 and the handful of survivors - eight men, one woman and two children - were finally rescued by a tiny schooner on 7 September 1914. It's an extraordinary story, vividly told.

Jennifer Niven McJunkin read English at Drew University, New Jersey and then took an MFA at the American Film Institute in Los Angeles. She has worked as a screenwriter and, most recently, as an Associate Producer at ABC Television. She lives in LA and this is her first book.

Paperback