The "heroic age" of exploration, a period spanning the Victorian and Edwardian eras, was dominated by great personalities and numerous geographical firsts. The polar explorers were the superstars of their time. Exploration was a male dominion, though. Constricted by the gentilities and pruderies of the time, most women could only encounter the wilder parts of the world second-hand. But a handful struck off on an unusual path in their pursuit of broader horizons. In this compelling book, author Kari Herbert explores the unpredictable, often heartbreaking lives of seven remarkable women who married famous polar explorers. In her portraits of the gifted sculptor Kathleen Scott; eccentric traveller Jane Franklin; spirited poet Eleanor Anne Franklin; Jo Peary, the first white woman to travel and give birth in the High Arctic; talented and determined Emily Shackleton; the romantic Norwegian singer Eva Nansen; and her own mother, adventurer Marie Herbert, Kari Herbert blends deeply personal accounts of longing, betrayal, and hope with stories of peril and adventure. Drawing on her own unique experience of life within a polar family, with extracts from previously unpublished historic journals and letters, she illuminates not only the extraordinary bond between these men and their wives, but the essential role the women played in supporting, publicizing, defending, and even financing their husbands' expeditions.

Without their persistence, some of their husbands might never have made it home. Previously consigned to the footnotes of historical biographies, these extraordinary"polar wives" are revealed here as vibrant, strong-willed individuals in their own right. Through their stories we are taken not only to the polar wastes but through war-torn Macedonia, the lawless outback of Australia, and the plague-riddled ancient cities of the Holy Land. Although these women came from different eras and backgrounds, each of them held firm to the belief that her husband had a vital life mission to complete. Driven by love, pride, and a fierce loyalty, each developed a connection with her spouse that transcended time, place, and social norms. Tapping into the passion, tragedy, inner turmoil, and outward heroism of polar exploration, Kari Herbert has crafted a marvelously engaging book that will appeal to a wide audience-everyone from travelers and polar enthusiasts to those simply fond of a good story.