The North Water By Ian McGuire
LONGLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE 2016 A NEW YORK TIMES TOP TEN NOTABLE BOOK 2016 A ship sets sail with a killer on board …1859. A man joins a whaling ship bound for the Arctic Circle. Having left the British Army with his reputation in tatters, Patrick Sumner has little option but to accept the position of ship’s surgeon on this ill-fated voyage. But when, deep into the journey, a cabin boy is discovered brutally killed, Sumner finds himself forced to act. Soon he will face an evil even greater than he had encountered at the siege of Delhi, in the shape of Henry Drax: harpooner, murderer, monster …’A tour de force’ Hilary Mantel ‘Riveting and darkly brilliant’ Colm Toibin
Review
By our #TheBOOKSetcClub reviewer Becky Hinshelwood
I’ve been solo parenting for the last fortnight. Mr H has been off struggling through the loneliness of five star hotels and the heartburn of endless restaurant meals. It’s a hardship. The dog has been staying with the Grandparents in the country so that I have one less creature to look after. So, with the protection of neither husband nor beast available, conditions are perfect for me to consume the kind of stories that chill the soul, terrify the spirit, explore the murky depths of humanity and leave me struggling to switch the light off and go to bed!
The North Water is the kind of thriller that would take place if DCI John Luther were to be transported into Dickensian London. Except it takes place on a nineteenth century whale hunting ship somewhere near the Arctic Circle. The location is vital here. It is cold. It is rough. It is dark. The Arctic is merciless and no one can hear you scream. Despite the vast openness of the ocean and horizon, the setting is claustrophobic. The enormous power of the natural surroundings of ice and tide are pivotal to building the tension of the story.
This is not a murder mystery; we know our killer from the outset and we begin the story learning in detail what he is capable of. When we meet our villain Henry Drax at the book’s opening we are immediately catapulted into his world of high violence and depravity. His is a monstrous force that can be matched in power only by that of the Arctic itself.
Our principal is Patrick Sumner (who I have imagined as a bit Tom Hardy in Taboo – probably not what was intended, but I’ve seen a lot of him on screen recently and a girl’s only human). He has secrets, a chequered history and is a junkie; but above all this he is a survivor. Something that Otto, our representative of a higher power, foresees. His interaction with Otto provides some morality and camaraderie amongst the vicious, the immoral and the murderous.
The moral code of ship’s crew is basic, and combined with the presence of Drax and destructive power of the Arctic descends quickly to one of extreme violence. The depictions of hunting and course language of the crew build a fitting backdrop to the savagery of Drax’s actions. During long sections of the story when the murder isn’t a factor, the reader is desensitised to violence through graphic descriptions of the slaughter and butchering of whales. Whether depicting whale flensing or a mutilated human corpse, Ian McGuire’s writing hides nothing.
In addition to the death and decay that litter the prose, the society amongst whom we find ourselves means, naturally, that there is a lot of swearing between the characters. This would be expected amongst a crew of men, isolated in extreme conditions for six months at a time, and serves to further degrade the environment that surrounds the action.
One of the most touching relationships in the story is strangely between Sumner and the polar bear cub who, after the brutal hunting of its mother, is caged and ignored on the deck of the ship. Sumner begins to care for the cub and their relationship hovers behind the action, ensuring that we are continually reminded of Sumner’s humanity amongst the morally broken. Somehow, though, these glimpses of kindness do not lift this book from the darkness; indeed the recurrence of the bear motif to close the novel serves to project a vein of despair through to the bitter end.
Soon the husband and hound will be home to protect me from the figments of my own overactive imagination. I’ll be glad of it, but there’s something compelling about thrillers such as The North Water which will always keep me coming back for more.
If Becky’s review has inspired you to read more then You can buy your copy HERE for £6.15 (RRP £8.99) + Free UK delivery.