We all have to work to live, even if it is an illegal survey for oil in the rapidly melting Arctic. Software engineer Isobel needs to eat like everyone, and that’s how she fell into the job that leads her to the most northerly place on our planet. As part of a weathered crew of sailors, scientists and corporate officers she sails into the ice where their advanced software Proteus will map everything there is to know. A great icebreaker leads their way into the brutal environment, and the days grow longer, time ever more detached, as they pass through the endless white expanse of the ice.  But they are not alone. They have attracted the attention of seals, gulls and a hungry, dedicated polar bear. The journey to plunder one of the few remaining resources the planet has to offer must endure the ravages of the ice, the bear and time itself. Regular readers of The Eloquent Page will be aware of my fondness for apocalyptic fiction. It’s a sub-genre I constantly find myself drawn towards. Always North by Vicki Jarrett is an introspective character study of a woman watching our destruction and I absolutely loved it. The novel…

When people shed their skin every seven years, it’s just a fact of life that we will cast off all the attachments of our old life. And when our loves are part of us, those memories of love can be bought, if you know the right people. Introducing the new drug, Suscutin, that will prevent the moult. Now you can keep your skin forever. Now you never need to change who you are. But it’s not so simple for celebrity bodyguard Rose Allington, who suffers from a rare disease. Her moults come quickly, changing everything about her life, who she is, who she loves. Meanwhile, her former client, superstar actor Max Black, is hooked on Suscutin, because he knows moulting could lose him everything. When one of his skins is stolen, and the theft is an inside job, he needs the best who ever worked for him on the job – even if she’s not the same person. Very occasionally, I’ll read a piece of writing that takes my breath away. It’s rare, but it does happen from time to time; The Language of Dying by Sarah Pinborough immediately springs to mind. The Loosening Skin by Aliya Whiteley has found a…

Aisling Selkirk is a young woman beset by unexplained blackouts, pseudo-seizures that have baffled both the doctors and her family. Sent to recuperate in the Suffolk countryside with ageing relatives, she seeks solace in the work of William Blake and writing her journal, filling its pages with her visions of Feodor, a fiery East Londoner haunted by his family’s history back in Russia. But her blackouts persist as she discovers a Tudor priest hole and papers from its disturbed former inhabitant Soon after she meets the enigmatic Chase, and is drawn to an unfamiliar town where the rule of Our Friend is absolute and those deemed unfit and undesirable disappear into The Quiet… When Aisling is initially introduced she appears to be quite delicate. Her mother, Beverley, is at her wits end. She has tried to be understanding but can’t connect with Aisling in any meaningful way. Aisling’s mother thinks the best thing for her daughter is to spend some time in the peace and quiet of the countryside allowing Beverley to settle down with her new beau. Aisling is left to her own devices, living in her great aunt’s crumbling estate. She grows determined to move on with her…