The Ice Balloon
Historical fiction
A compelling novel of discovery, loves lost and a deception that spanned a lifetime ... inspired by true events.
1897 - As explorers and scientists scramble to conquer the North Pole, Nils Strindberg, with fellow adventurers S. A. Andree and Knut Fraenkel, takes up the challenge. Setting flight in a hydrogen balloon, Nils leaves his fiancée Anna and his brother Erik behind in Stockholm anxiously waiting his return.
1930 - When the men's remains are discovered on the frozen island of Kvitøya, the news makes headlines around the world. Brash young journalist Knut Stubbendorff is sent to report from the site and uncovers, among the debris, journals filled with love letters to Anna. Wanting to know more about the man who left his love to embark on a journey that was doomed from the start, Stubbendorff is determined to find Anna ... but Anna doesn't want to be found.
In a search that uncovers lost loves, deceit and long-buried secrets, Stubbendorff discovers a story that has stayed hidden for decades and the people who have been concealing it.
The inspiration
“During a holiday in Rome I read a New Yorker article about Salomon August Andrée’s ill-fated, late-1800s balloon expedition to the North Pole. I’d never heard of Andrée but the eccentricity of the scheme fascinated me - it was the lunacy of the plan that gripped me the most.
Prior to the 20th century over one thousand explorers had attempted to reach the North Pole. The only one to do it in a balloon was the Swede, S.A. Andrée. The journey ended in tragedy, but it wasn’t until several decades later that the world learned how the lives of Andrée and his companions, Nils Strindberg and Knut Frænkel, ended.
In August 1930, a Norwegian scientific expedition discovered the bodies of two men and the remnants of the explorers’ final camp on Kvitøya, a small island in the Arctic Ocean. A few weeks later Knut Stubbendorff, a journalist, was sent on assignment to Kvitøya to cover the story. Stubbendorff discovered the remains of the third man, as well as the scientific logs and personal journals of the adventurers.
As I dug deeper into the expedition, and into the lives of those involved, I discovered the relationship between Nils Strindberg and his fiancée Anna Charlier. This was the impetus for this book, originally published as Perfect North.
I hope you enjoy reading The Ice Balloon as much as I loved its creation.”
JENNY xxx