If you've made it this far, you'll have understood how enraged this book made me - but just to clarify, I would not recommend.

Christiane Ritter- Künstlerin, Abenteurerin, Ehefrau und Mutter, doch vor allem eine Frau, die ihrer Zeit voraus war. They told of journeys by water and over ice, of the animals and the fascination of the wilderness, of the strange light over the landscape, of the strange illumination of one’s own self in the remoteness of the polar night. I would love to go to Antarctica but as it would be as a tourist, I’d really worry now about the carbon footprint etc and I don’t think I’d do it.The hunters, to save them from the bears and foxes, keep their dead comrades in the hut right through the winter.

I wondered how she felt when she found, with no warning, that she would be living in a 10x10 hut with not just her husband but a strange man!

She takes off on a boat with a mirror, a feather bed, books, camel hair clothing, spoons, and herbs. Most of the book was about their surviving the long year, and then her writing about the beauty of the place. Pushkin Press reissued the English text in 2019 with a foreword by Sara Wheeler, a few period photographs and a hand-drawn map by Neil Gower. A Woman In The Polar Night is a fascinating memoir, one woman against and with nature, in an extremely inhospitable landscape takes a journey of self discovery. It was such a peaceful read, it acted as a balm, although it did not leave me wishing to experience it for myself.

I would never do this in a million years, so didn't actually want hear about how freezing and depressing it is - oh but don't worry, she'll tell you on the next line that it is truly the best experience of her life and she can't imagine ever leaving. Along with several trunks containing books, writing and art supplies, and other things important to her. This book was one of my favourite reads in 2020, but of course I love everything arctic, and especially reading about the women that went there before me.I mean, I’ll read an older book that has foxhunting in the background (Angela Thirkell, I’m thinking of you) but not a modern book or one concentrating on it; here, the pull of the description of polar life outweighed the discomfort, however, it wasn’t all entirely of necessity and there is talk of making good furs to sell for ladies to wear which was difficult to read. It made me think about things bigger than myself, as indeed living through it gave Cristiane Ritter food for thought, I highly recommend it if you want knowledge of experiences you’ll likely never have during a time we won’t see again. Ritter was utterly unprepared for the daily struggle, having expected a year’s cozy retreat: “I could stay by the warm stove in the hut, knit socks, paint from the window, read thick books in the remote quiet and, not least, sleep to my heart’s content.