Uusma, Bea "The Expedition: a Love Story: Solving the Mystery of a Polar Tragedy" (Swedish: Expeditionen: min kärlekshistoria) - 2013
This was our international online book club book for January 2024.
We don't read many non-fiction books in our online book club, so this was quite a change. And a good one.
The story is very old. It started at the end of the 19th century when three Swedes wanted to go to the North Pole in a balloon.
Unfortunately, they didn't make it. For 33 years, nobody heard from that or knew what had happened. Until some fishermen found their bodies.
But what really might have happened, was still a big mystery. Until Bea Uusma, a Swedish author, illustrator and medical doctor happened upon the story and got curious. She found a lot of evidence and put together the story as it most possibly happened.
Quite an interesting story, even if some parts of the puzzle will never be solved. I thought it was nice to follow the author on her quest to finding the key to the riddle.
A lot of pictures and illustration complete the report about the search.
From the back cover:
"11 July, 1897. Three men set out in a hydrogen balloon bound for the North Pole. They never return. Two days into their journey they make a crash landing then disappear into a white nightmare.
33 years later. The men's bodies are found, perfectly preserved under the snow and ice. They had enough food, clothing and ammunition to survive. Why did they die?
66 years later. Bea Uusma is at a party. Bored, she pulls a books off the shelf. It is about the expedition. For the next fifteen years, Bea will think of nothing else...
Can she solve the mystery of The Expedition?"
Sounds fascinating!
ReplyDeleteIt is indeed. I had never heard of this before, and the notes from the guys were extremely interesting. I think you would like this.
DeleteI love these kinds of historical mystery nonfiction books. They're always so fascinating to read.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely, Lark, I love everything about history. And we will never know all of it, so it is always some kind of a mystery. But this author really tried to find more clues. And she did.
DeleteThis is a great book, and I found it very interesting. It kept me reading until the end. More exciting than any thriller. My review is here: https://thecontentreader.blogspot.com/2014/09/expeditionen-min-karlekshistoria.html
ReplyDeleteI also happened to find an old book about the Scientific account of the Andrée expedition 1897 which is an account on what happened through the dairies of the members of the expedition. Although written in the 1930s, and is a academic report it was very easy to read. My review: https://thecontentreader.blogspot.com/2019/06/a-few-short-reviews.html#more
Thank you, Lisbeth. I totally agree, very interesting book. I will have a look at your links, it's always interesting to hear from other readers what they think.
DeleteI will definitely request that my library purchases this one!!
ReplyDeleteIf it were easier, I'd send you my copy. I bought a used one.
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