Don't let the length of UNDER A POLE STAR put you off. I put off reading it for years, and now I wish it hadn't taken me so long. Even though it's a hefty book, when I got to the end I wanted it to be longer.

This is historical fiction, not a mystery, no matter how your library may classify it.

I would never have thought that a book about Arctic exploration during the late 19th century would interest me. But this is the setting, mostly. On a personal level, you'll learn about living in these extreme circumstances. You'll understand what the characters loved.

I dislike romance novels, and this is not that. Yet this story revolves around Flora, who heads a British expedition to Northern Greenland, and Jakob, a geologist with an American expedition. Their love works best there, and you'll wish they never left.

It's important that you understand: this is not a romance novel. There, I repeated it. It can be a tearjerker, though.

UNDER A POLE STAR is splendid historical fiction, and I don't know how anyone could rate it anything less than five stars. But, because the library, mine, anyhow, calls it a mystery, anyone who picks it up and expects that genre will be disappointed.