The Mercier Press

Somewhere Cold - Geraldine Osborne

In 1989, Irish doctor Geraldine Osborne, her artist husband Danny, and their three young children—ages five, two, and one—embarked on an extraordinary adventure: to spend a year living in one of the most isolated parts of the world, the tiny Inuit settlement of Grise Fiord, over a thousand kilometres above the Arctic Circle. Danny wasn't a stranger to Arctic extremes. In 1981, he took part in the first Irish Arctic Expedition. But his urge to reconnect with the Arctic never left—and in 1989, he convinced Geraldine to pack up their young family to spend the dark winter at temperatures below -40 °C living in this northernmost community of Canada while training their dog team and preparing for a perilous dog-sledge journey across the frozen sea to retrace the route of the last Inuit migration to Greenland in the following spring. Written with warmth, humour, and unflinching honesty, Somewhere Cold explores their remarkable year in the High Arctic as Geraldine balances maternal instincts to protect her children from hazards with the desire to embrace this once-in-a-lifetime adventure. Along the way, they form deep connections with the local Inuit community, who share their traditional knowledge, country food, and exceptional resilience. A compelling blend of travel narrative, family memoir and cultural observation, richly illustrated with photographs, Somewhere Cold is about pushing boundaries, embracing the unknown and discovering that sometimes the most valuable lessons come from unexpected places. Insights into contemporary Nunavut life have recently hit the headlines via the Netflix Show North of North, and Somewhere Cold portrays an equally engaging period when Inuit life was still in transition.

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