During the warm summer of 1897, Sweden sent a hot air balloon to the Arctic with the aim of being the first country to reach the North Pole. By the end of summer, it was clear: the three men had not made it, and they had not survived. Thirty-three years later the remains of the men are found in the ice on the island of Kvitøya; Knut Stubbendorff, a young journalist, is on hand to make the discovery. Along with the bodies are their effects, their notes, and in the case of balloonist Nils Strindberg, letters to his fiancée back home. Disillusioned with the greed of his newspaper, Stubbendorff decides he needs to do something the scientists will not, and, with three decades lost, deliver these letters to Anna Charlier, their intended recipient.

Perfect North is less the story of the explorers’ last days than the tale of those left behind. Anna’s entanglement with the Strindberg family is one that on the surface seems full of delight – and to the lonely Stubbendorff, a relationship of almost unimaginable affection – but at home, miles away from Nils’s love letters, the Strindberg brothers have their own devastation to deliver. This is a love story with a broken heart, during a time of exploration and long distances with no Skype to fix any miscommunications.

With journal entries from the expedition – which, astonishingly, did actually happen – and a liberal dose of misfortune, Jenny Bond has created a moving story. By the end, I couldn’t shake the thought that from a balloon, there is no way to tell you have arrived at the North Pole; their destination was as imprecise as the relationships they left behind.

Fiona Hardy