Ice Ghosts

February 13, 2017
Watson (Where War Lives), a Pulitzer Prize–winning Canadian photojournalist, recounts a failed 19th-century attempt to find the fabled Northwest Passage and the 21st-century search that succeeded in locating vessels that had been missing for 168 years. On May 19, 1845, John Franklin began his fourth and final journey in search of the Northwest Passage. Despite his soiled reputation and advancing age, Franklin was made commander of HMS Erebus and HMS Terror and their combined crew of 128 men. Fitted with the latest technology, Erebus and Terror set sail from England to the Arctic Ocean. During the winter of 1845–1846, three men died, the ships were twice trapped in sea ice, and Franklin’s health declined precipitously. Franklin died on June 11, 1847, and Watson reveals that during the subsequent winter the ships were once again trapped, forcing the remaining crew to relinquish the ships in search of safety. Numerous attempts were made to find the ships as well as the burial sites of crew and commander. Through the diligence of self-trained Inuit historian Louie Kamookak and an array of researchers, scientists, and divers, the sunken ships were found in pristine condition. Watson’s meticulously researched tale finely weaves together the many voices and experiences of those who sought Franklin’s long-missing ships.

The story of John Franklin's doomed expedition to discover the Northwest Passage in 1845 and the dozens of unsuccessful searches mounted to learn the fate of the 130 men who accompanied him is not a new topic, but it's still a sensational one--full of starvation, cannibalism, botulism, clairvoyants, and Arctic cold. Narrator Malcolm Hillgartner has a rich voice and a keen ability to evoke an atmosphere of endless winter, deprivation, and mystery. He also rolls through the Inuit names and places without hesitation as we learn that Inuit stories that had been ignored and dismissed for decades were key to locating the HMS EREBUS in 2014 and the HMS TERROR in 2016. Paul Watson is also sympathetic to Franklin's wife Jane's famous intensity and grit, and Hillgartner faithfully renders her unusual viewpoint. A.B. � AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine