It is only at the end of the world—among the glacier mountains and frigid waters of Antarctica—where Deb Gardner and Keller Sullivan feel at home. For the few blissful weeks they spend each year studying the habits of penguins, Deb and Keller can escape the frustrations and sorrows of their separate lives and find solace in each other. But Antarctica, like their fleeting romance, is tenuous, imperiled by the world to the north.
A new travel and research season has just begun, and Deb and Keller are ready to play tour guide to the passengers on the small expedition ship that ferries them to their research destination. Except that this year, Keller fails to appear on board. Shortly into the trip, Deb’s ship receives an emergency signal from the Australis, a cruise liner that has hit desperate trouble in the ice-choked waters. And among the crew of the sinking ship is Keller…
As Deb and Keller’s troubled histories collide with this catastrophic present, Deb’s role turns from researcher to rescuer all too aware that in this land of harsh beauty even the smallest missteps can have tragic consequences.
‘Half adventure, half elegy, and wholly recommended.’ Karen Joy Fowler, author of We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves
‘Refreshingly different, vivid and immediate. Midge Raymond has an extraordinary gift for description that puts the reader bang in the middle of the action, bang in the middle of its dangerous and endangered world. Her clean, sparse prose pulls us irresistibly into the story and the wider issues it raises. She is clearly a writer in command of her craft.’ M. L. Steadman, author of The Light Between Oceans
‘An original and entirely authentic love story…It recognises that love is seldom simple or exclusive, and that the things that bring us together can also keep us apart.’ Graeme Simsion, author of The Rosie Project
‘The quality of Raymond’s prose struck me from the opening lines. An uncompromising, multi-layered story of love and admiration—of people, animals and environment—in which authenticity and beauty is born from their imperfections. Vivid and emotionally astute, both heartrending and hopeful, Midge Raymond’s My Last Continent is a novel I recommend without reservation.’ Top 10 International Reads of 2016, Booklover Book Reviews
‘I’m fascinated with the idea of isolation, particularly in these days of constant connectivity. I think it’s important for we humans to isolate ourselves occasionally—to have time to recharge, to be quiet and still—for me, being in nature is the most invigorating way to disengage.’ Read a Q&A with Graeme Simsion on the Text blog.
andMy Last Continent
‘Half adventure, half elegy, and wholly recommended.’
‘Refreshingly different, vivid and immediate. Midge Raymond has an extraordinary gift for description that puts the reader bang in the middle of the action, bang in the middle of its dangerous and endangered world. Her clean, sparse prose pulls us irresistibly into the story and the wider issues it raises. She is clearly a writer in command of her craft.’
‘An original and entirely authentic love story…It recognises that love is seldom simple or exclusive, and that the things that bring us together can also keep us apart.’
‘An atmospheric tale of love discovered, and losses endured, in Antarctica…The unpredictability of the splendors and terrors of life at the southern pole creates a backdrop of foreboding entirely appropriate for the story’s cinematic resolution [and] the authentic rendering of the setting distinguishes Raymond’s novel from other stories of love in perilous times and places.’
‘Moving and raw…The combination of the icy Antarctic and the warmth of human feeling make for compelling reading.’
‘[Raymond] has evoked the various landscapes of the continent and its offshore islands superbly. Deb’s determination to protect the environment and wildlife of Antarctica is compelling, while the various threats to its future are symbolised by the dramatic disaster that provides a gripping and exciting conclusion.’
‘My Last Continent is a complicated love story and an education in the plight of penguins in Antarctica, showcasing the beauty and terror unique to one of the world’s most remote terrains…Raymond skillfully captures the stunning and singular landscape and its special inhabitants.’
‘Atmospheric and adventurous…The story and vivid writing will keep readers glued to the pages.’
‘I can say, this novel is going straight onto my year-end best of list, I loved everything about it. I was engaged from the opening pages, but from the moment that Deb and Keller meet, two lost souls finding each other at the end of the Earth, I was invested in their outcome, their romance, their sense of adventure as well as the dangers of the beautiful, icy wilderness of the Antarctic. Perfect summer reading for me. (10/10)’
‘Unexpected and unique, this is a beautiful novel to immerse yourself and become lost in…Full of danger and suspense, it transports you to another world, and encourages reflection and compassion.’
‘A beautifully written, moving and gripping debut novel. I hope there will be more to come from this author.’
‘As refreshing as it is poignant… a completely absorbing and sobering tale… [It] leaves you with a far greater appreciation of a searingly beautiful world, whose fate we are squandering so casually.’
‘The quality of Raymond’s prose struck me from the opening lines. An uncompromising, multi-layered story of love and admiration—of people, animals and environment—in which authenticity and beauty is born from their imperfections. Vivid and emotionally astute, both heartrending and hopeful, Midge Raymond’s My Last Continent is a novel I recommend without reservation.’
