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The Edge of Solitude
A lone ship journeys south, heading for the furthest reaches of Antarctica. It belongs to Sky, the billionaire behind a groundbreaking project to salvage the region. On board is disgraced environmental activist Ivy Cunningham, lending her expertise in the hope that it might rescue her reputation - and perhaps even mend her broken relationship with her son.
And yet, as the ship moves ever deeper into the breathtaking but eerie landscape, Ivy grows increasingly suspicious of her fellow passengers, and starts to question the project's motives.
If she could leave, she would - but she knows there's no way home.
Exhilarating, terrifying and thought-provoking at once, The Edge of Solitude is a story of climate emergency and human fallibility, of the clash of ambition and principle, and of the choices we make when we know that time is running out.
And yet, as the ship moves ever deeper into the breathtaking but eerie landscape, Ivy grows increasingly suspicious of her fellow passengers, and starts to question the project's motives.
If she could leave, she would - but she knows there's no way home.
Exhilarating, terrifying and thought-provoking at once, The Edge of Solitude is a story of climate emergency and human fallibility, of the clash of ambition and principle, and of the choices we make when we know that time is running out.
352 pages, Hardcover
Published July 4, 2024
8 people are currently reading
343 people want to read
About the author
Katie Hale
19 books31 followersBorn in Cumbria, Katie is the author of a novel, My Name is Monster (Canongate, 2019), and two poetry pamphlets: Breaking the Surface (Flipped Eye, 2017) and Assembly Instructions (Southword Editions, 2019), which won the Munster Fool for Poetry Chapbook Competition. In 2019, she was awarded a MacDowell Fellowship, and was Poet in Residence at the Wordsworth Trust.
She has recently won the Buzzwords Poetry Prize, the Jane Martin Poetry Prize and the Ware Poetry Prize, and has been shortlisted for the Manchester Poetry Prize, the University of Canberra Vice Chancellor’s International Poetry Prize and the Ballymaloe International Poetry Prize. Her poetry has been published in Poetry Review, The North and Interpreter’s House, among others. In 2017, Katie was mentored by Penguin Random House on their inaugural WriteNow scheme. Her musical, The Inevitable Quiet of the Crash, co-written with composer Stephen Hyde, premiered at Edinburgh Fringe in August 2017.
She has recently won the Buzzwords Poetry Prize, the Jane Martin Poetry Prize and the Ware Poetry Prize, and has been shortlisted for the Manchester Poetry Prize, the University of Canberra Vice Chancellor’s International Poetry Prize and the Ballymaloe International Poetry Prize. Her poetry has been published in Poetry Review, The North and Interpreter’s House, among others. In 2017, Katie was mentored by Penguin Random House on their inaugural WriteNow scheme. Her musical, The Inevitable Quiet of the Crash, co-written with composer Stephen Hyde, premiered at Edinburgh Fringe in August 2017.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
December 28, 2024
My rating: 2.5/5 🌟🌟✨
I really struggled with this one, although my expectations were so high and the synopsis sounded so intriguing. I expected a suspenseful, intriguing story full of action, mystery and suspense, but instead I got a character-driven plot with lots of flashbacks and reflections that considerably slowed down the plot.
Furthermore, I just couldn't warm to the main character, environmentalist and journalist Ivy, who narrates the story. To me, she comes across as rather cold and ruthless, as is true for the other protagonists, who seem rather flat and uninteresting. I couldn't really relate to any of them.
The story is set a few decades into the future, where trains no longer run and people and their environment are assessed and "read" by the so-called "IntuTech" (short for Intuition Technology) to predict their future behaviour and thus the future of our planet. The main protagonist Ivy has been invited by Sky, the billionaire, to join him in a project to save Antarctica after decades of exploitation with the aim to reintroduce the ice sheet. Formerly enemies, Ivy and Sky join forces to make Sky's project ("Plan B") a success, but of course things are not as they seem.
The story is a warning against climate change and its devastating effects on life on Earth. The history of Antarctica is well-researched and interesting, as is the description of Ivy's life as an environmentalist and the toll it has taken on her family, leaving her riddled with guilt and grief. But, as I said before, I couldn't feel Ivy's grief since I couldn't warm to her. I guess I just expected a different kind of story, with more focus on the environmental issue and definitely more action.
But if you love slow moving, character-driven plots with lots of reflections, this book may be the right one for you!
I really struggled with this one, although my expectations were so high and the synopsis sounded so intriguing. I expected a suspenseful, intriguing story full of action, mystery and suspense, but instead I got a character-driven plot with lots of flashbacks and reflections that considerably slowed down the plot.
Furthermore, I just couldn't warm to the main character, environmentalist and journalist Ivy, who narrates the story. To me, she comes across as rather cold and ruthless, as is true for the other protagonists, who seem rather flat and uninteresting. I couldn't really relate to any of them.
The story is set a few decades into the future, where trains no longer run and people and their environment are assessed and "read" by the so-called "IntuTech" (short for Intuition Technology) to predict their future behaviour and thus the future of our planet. The main protagonist Ivy has been invited by Sky, the billionaire, to join him in a project to save Antarctica after decades of exploitation with the aim to reintroduce the ice sheet. Formerly enemies, Ivy and Sky join forces to make Sky's project ("Plan B") a success, but of course things are not as they seem.
The story is a warning against climate change and its devastating effects on life on Earth. The history of Antarctica is well-researched and interesting, as is the description of Ivy's life as an environmentalist and the toll it has taken on her family, leaving her riddled with guilt and grief. But, as I said before, I couldn't feel Ivy's grief since I couldn't warm to her. I guess I just expected a different kind of story, with more focus on the environmental issue and definitely more action.
But if you love slow moving, character-driven plots with lots of reflections, this book may be the right one for you!
June 29, 2024
‘The Edge is Solitude’ is in part a warning against climate change. (Here, as in real life, there’s a plan B). Environmental activist and journalist Ivy Cunningham has been trying to fight it for decades. But at what cost? Here’s where it gets interesting.
On the one hand, this is a thought provoking, well researched and engrossing novel about Antarctica, environmental activism and ambition. On the other hand, it’s a book about family, love, guilt and loneliness. And (thank god) nothing is as black-and-white as it seems. I really enjoyed reading this.
Thank you Canongate and Netgalley UK for the ARC
On the one hand, this is a thought provoking, well researched and engrossing novel about Antarctica, environmental activism and ambition. On the other hand, it’s a book about family, love, guilt and loneliness. And (thank god) nothing is as black-and-white as it seems. I really enjoyed reading this.
Thank you Canongate and Netgalley UK for the ARC
August 18, 2024
4.5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
Ivy Cunningham is a disgraced climate activist and journalist, an older, queer, widowed woman, who has been invited on an expedition to the Antarctic to join Sky, a billionaire who has a Plan B to turn the tides on the melting ice caps. Why was she invited there? A chance to cleanse her reputation? And why did she go, an attempt at salvation, for herself, or for the cause?
The questions continue as the skeleton crew on this large ship seem to all have ulterior motives for their presence. Motivations trickle out over tense conversations, and flashbacks seamlessly interwoven into Ivy’s account of her journey.
You soon realise you’re reading Ivy’s message to her audience, a final assignment, a long form article, or a ‘guilting’, as she calls it. The book is a meditation on guilt and grief and moves in the shadowy areas of morality, exploring:
Sacrifice - The idea that to earn money to save the world, you must invest in things that kill it, do harm, to the very thing you’re trying to save - the ultimate gamble.
Guilt - does it absolve you of guilt if you materialise your shame, your wrong doing, if you name it, and transform it into a physical thing?
Ambition vs principles - does it undo your good work if you do it for clout? Can pride and ego outweigh the cause?
Family vs the world - Can a person spear heading a movement so urgent, also be a good mother, wife, friend? When attempting to parent the world, does that absolve you of the responsibility of parenting your own children?
What at first felt like an eco thriller morphed into a deep dive into a life, and I really felt like I’d spent a lifetime with Ivy. The writing is dreamlike, lyrical, like being invited into someone’s memory. My only criticism is the denouement felt slightly rushed after the fantastic build up, but by that point I was so invested in Ivy, fallible and unlikeable as she is, I was so engrossed by her arc that it didn’t even matter that much to me - the guilting was complete.
Ivy Cunningham is a disgraced climate activist and journalist, an older, queer, widowed woman, who has been invited on an expedition to the Antarctic to join Sky, a billionaire who has a Plan B to turn the tides on the melting ice caps. Why was she invited there? A chance to cleanse her reputation? And why did she go, an attempt at salvation, for herself, or for the cause?
The questions continue as the skeleton crew on this large ship seem to all have ulterior motives for their presence. Motivations trickle out over tense conversations, and flashbacks seamlessly interwoven into Ivy’s account of her journey.
You soon realise you’re reading Ivy’s message to her audience, a final assignment, a long form article, or a ‘guilting’, as she calls it. The book is a meditation on guilt and grief and moves in the shadowy areas of morality, exploring:
Sacrifice - The idea that to earn money to save the world, you must invest in things that kill it, do harm, to the very thing you’re trying to save - the ultimate gamble.
Guilt - does it absolve you of guilt if you materialise your shame, your wrong doing, if you name it, and transform it into a physical thing?
Ambition vs principles - does it undo your good work if you do it for clout? Can pride and ego outweigh the cause?
Family vs the world - Can a person spear heading a movement so urgent, also be a good mother, wife, friend? When attempting to parent the world, does that absolve you of the responsibility of parenting your own children?
What at first felt like an eco thriller morphed into a deep dive into a life, and I really felt like I’d spent a lifetime with Ivy. The writing is dreamlike, lyrical, like being invited into someone’s memory. My only criticism is the denouement felt slightly rushed after the fantastic build up, but by that point I was so invested in Ivy, fallible and unlikeable as she is, I was so engrossed by her arc that it didn’t even matter that much to me - the guilting was complete.
July 3, 2024
First things first, I absolutely loved this book! It was very readable and accessible with some beautiful poetic lines (Katie Hale being a poet as well) that showed up at just the right moments without overwhelming the prose. And the main character! Ivy is an older queer woman who already has at least 50 years of environmental activism behind her and she is the future of the teenagers who are fighting for environmental justice in our reality right now.
The setting of this novel is really interesting and it was the big part of why I felt so engaged with it. Even though it mostly reads like contemporary fiction, it is set in near future, lending it sci-fi elements but in a very accessible way - it’s not “heavy” sci-fi, it’s more a speculative fiction that goes a little further. The present time in the novel quickly reveals to be a future where the events following environmental collapse have already been happening for some time. Snippets from Ivy’s past hint at what the humanity had to deal with. The environmental events aren’t the main focus though, it is a backdrop to what ordinary people have to go through and how it shapes their values and actions.
Majority of the story is happening on a ship heading to Antarctica and it is brilliant how with a very small cast and constraints of the physical space it is truly engaging and even gripping. I found this novel to have perfectly timed reveal of information trickling at just the perfect intervals always making it hard to put the book down (and go to sleep). In essence it is a story about choices and morality but it is set against a fascinating background of the passage to Antarctica, the Ocean, the rough cold and rough future.
Thank you to Canongate and NetGalley for the eARC!
The setting of this novel is really interesting and it was the big part of why I felt so engaged with it. Even though it mostly reads like contemporary fiction, it is set in near future, lending it sci-fi elements but in a very accessible way - it’s not “heavy” sci-fi, it’s more a speculative fiction that goes a little further. The present time in the novel quickly reveals to be a future where the events following environmental collapse have already been happening for some time. Snippets from Ivy’s past hint at what the humanity had to deal with. The environmental events aren’t the main focus though, it is a backdrop to what ordinary people have to go through and how it shapes their values and actions.
Majority of the story is happening on a ship heading to Antarctica and it is brilliant how with a very small cast and constraints of the physical space it is truly engaging and even gripping. I found this novel to have perfectly timed reveal of information trickling at just the perfect intervals always making it hard to put the book down (and go to sleep). In essence it is a story about choices and morality but it is set against a fascinating background of the passage to Antarctica, the Ocean, the rough cold and rough future.
Thank you to Canongate and NetGalley for the eARC!
October 23, 2024
The Edge of Solitude is about loss. Loss of ice and loss of family.
The focus of the story is climate activist and author, Ivy.
She is on a ship in the Antarctic with a small crew and a billionaire, who is looking to use technology to reintroduce the ice sheet.
Set in the near future with technological improvements that seem plausible or already on the fringe, this book is not so much about climate change but about the toll that campaigning has taken on one individual and their relationships. After having a child, she left the mother and her wife Bree to protest and protect the planet. Being apart meant a breakdown in the relationship and a separation from family when illness and death are perceived to be less important.
Solitude and loss are brilliantly conveyed but this produces a vacuum in the narrative whereby little happens but ennui in the reader. Glacial in its momentum, unfortunately this reader gave up after halfway.
The focus of the story is climate activist and author, Ivy.
She is on a ship in the Antarctic with a small crew and a billionaire, who is looking to use technology to reintroduce the ice sheet.
Set in the near future with technological improvements that seem plausible or already on the fringe, this book is not so much about climate change but about the toll that campaigning has taken on one individual and their relationships. After having a child, she left the mother and her wife Bree to protest and protect the planet. Being apart meant a breakdown in the relationship and a separation from family when illness and death are perceived to be less important.
Solitude and loss are brilliantly conveyed but this produces a vacuum in the narrative whereby little happens but ennui in the reader. Glacial in its momentum, unfortunately this reader gave up after halfway.
September 6, 2025
Glacial pace.
p90 Nothing has happened yet and very little dialogue on the boat. No sign of the eco-thriller or ratcheting tension.
Pushed on.
p157 Still nothing happening on the boat. No one is talking to each other. Even when they meet. Still feel like I’m waiting for a second act.
Putting this down as ‘did not finish’.
p90 Nothing has happened yet and very little dialogue on the boat. No sign of the eco-thriller or ratcheting tension.
Pushed on.
p157 Still nothing happening on the boat. No one is talking to each other. Even when they meet. Still feel like I’m waiting for a second act.
Putting this down as ‘did not finish’.
November 24, 2025
this wanted to talk about white saviourism & the impact of climate change & to an extent it managed, but i think maybe the message was undercut a little by having
October 22, 2024
This is a truly astonishing novel. Exhilarating, atmospheric and original, it is a mix of dystopia and speculative fiction and is everything that I want from a book. The author writes with a lyrical, almost poetic touch at times, yet her descriptions are often so stark, so chilling and violent. It's a novel that will stay with me for a very long time.
It's sometime in the near future and the climate change crisis continues, almost expected by everyone in the world. The world's richest man, known only as Sky claims that he can use science to reverse the existing process, to stop the melting ice, to stop the world's temperatures rising. He and his crew are on his super yacht, bound for Antarctica. They call it Plan B.
Ivy Cunningham, a seventy-five year old climate activist is also on board. Ivy is no longer revered and admired by the world, she refers to her downfall as the 'Helsinki Affair', yet readers are not privy to the full details until much later in the novel. Ivy is a character who is extremely difficult to either like, or empathise with. Their is no doubt that over the years she has achieved great things, she won prizes, her work was acclaimed internationally, but we hear from Ivy in her own voice. We hear about her relationships, her marriage, her parenting. We realise that Ivy has always put herself first, she will imply that it was the world that she wanted to save, but it's clear that it was the fame and the admiration that spurred her on.
Ivy and Sky have a strange relationship. Whilst she has researched him for years, and written many articles about him, and not all complimentary, they have never spent time together. Ivy is unsure why she's been asked to join the expedition and her nature leads her to more interference. She's something of a loose cannon .... and it becomes clear that she cannot trust anyone else on board.
Hale's descriptive prose of the landscape as the yacht sails is outstanding, she has the ability to put a chill down the reader's spine with her extraordinary use of words and language. The contrast between the utter luxury of the yacht, with it's heat and fine foods, compared with the stillness and desolation of the lands that they sail alongside is beautifully done.
This is Ivy's story, without a doubt. She honestly lays bear her life, her mistakes, her regrets, her continuing anguish about her relationship with her son and her grief for her late wife Bree. It is a study in a life lived in the spotlight. The science included in the story is fascinating and the effects of how humans have treated their planet is shocking and raw, and oh so real.
An outstanding read. Highly recommended by me.
It's sometime in the near future and the climate change crisis continues, almost expected by everyone in the world. The world's richest man, known only as Sky claims that he can use science to reverse the existing process, to stop the melting ice, to stop the world's temperatures rising. He and his crew are on his super yacht, bound for Antarctica. They call it Plan B.
Ivy Cunningham, a seventy-five year old climate activist is also on board. Ivy is no longer revered and admired by the world, she refers to her downfall as the 'Helsinki Affair', yet readers are not privy to the full details until much later in the novel. Ivy is a character who is extremely difficult to either like, or empathise with. Their is no doubt that over the years she has achieved great things, she won prizes, her work was acclaimed internationally, but we hear from Ivy in her own voice. We hear about her relationships, her marriage, her parenting. We realise that Ivy has always put herself first, she will imply that it was the world that she wanted to save, but it's clear that it was the fame and the admiration that spurred her on.
Ivy and Sky have a strange relationship. Whilst she has researched him for years, and written many articles about him, and not all complimentary, they have never spent time together. Ivy is unsure why she's been asked to join the expedition and her nature leads her to more interference. She's something of a loose cannon .... and it becomes clear that she cannot trust anyone else on board.
Hale's descriptive prose of the landscape as the yacht sails is outstanding, she has the ability to put a chill down the reader's spine with her extraordinary use of words and language. The contrast between the utter luxury of the yacht, with it's heat and fine foods, compared with the stillness and desolation of the lands that they sail alongside is beautifully done.
This is Ivy's story, without a doubt. She honestly lays bear her life, her mistakes, her regrets, her continuing anguish about her relationship with her son and her grief for her late wife Bree. It is a study in a life lived in the spotlight. The science included in the story is fascinating and the effects of how humans have treated their planet is shocking and raw, and oh so real.
An outstanding read. Highly recommended by me.
July 13, 2024
An atmospheric exploration of grief and guilt
Set in a very near future, on tech billionaire Sky's ship to the Antarctic is Ivy Cunningham, long-term journalistic thorn in his side, on her third trip to the White Continent. As the billionaire's staff confide in Ivy, see to her every comfort and threaten her in turn, who will she trust? What story will she write? And how does it all connect with her own shattered past?
For about 90% of the book, I was drawn in by Hale's intoxicating descriptions of the Antarctic, of Ivy's own journeys there, the historic adventurers, and the sailing that the book recounts. Around all these are threaded Ivy's fifty year rise as a journalist and climate activist, the tension between the causes she espouses and her own fame; and her up-and-down relationships with her family, her wife Bree, their son Ross, their granddaughter Keira. The steady dance between these timelines is deftly handled, but with an opacity that adds nothing to the overall themes or texture of the book. The things that are only alluded to aren't that interesting, so even though I made the effort to connect the dots, I felt no narrative reward at all.
The science fiction elements are light but inconsistent, rendering the book into a morality tale rather than an exploration of one woman as a proxy for the world. The ending rushes in like a sledgehammer, and adds nothing to what the rest of the book has to say about tech billionaires, about fame and manipulation, about guilt and innocence and revenge and self-recrimination. Plenty of surface, little of substance: the exact opposite of an iceberg.
Set in a very near future, on tech billionaire Sky's ship to the Antarctic is Ivy Cunningham, long-term journalistic thorn in his side, on her third trip to the White Continent. As the billionaire's staff confide in Ivy, see to her every comfort and threaten her in turn, who will she trust? What story will she write? And how does it all connect with her own shattered past?
For about 90% of the book, I was drawn in by Hale's intoxicating descriptions of the Antarctic, of Ivy's own journeys there, the historic adventurers, and the sailing that the book recounts. Around all these are threaded Ivy's fifty year rise as a journalist and climate activist, the tension between the causes she espouses and her own fame; and her up-and-down relationships with her family, her wife Bree, their son Ross, their granddaughter Keira. The steady dance between these timelines is deftly handled, but with an opacity that adds nothing to the overall themes or texture of the book. The things that are only alluded to aren't that interesting, so even though I made the effort to connect the dots, I felt no narrative reward at all.
The science fiction elements are light but inconsistent, rendering the book into a morality tale rather than an exploration of one woman as a proxy for the world. The ending rushes in like a sledgehammer, and adds nothing to what the rest of the book has to say about tech billionaires, about fame and manipulation, about guilt and innocence and revenge and self-recrimination. Plenty of surface, little of substance: the exact opposite of an iceberg.
August 14, 2025
Disgraced environmental activist Ivy Cunningham boards a ship heading for the furthest reaches of Antarctica as part of a ground-breaking project to salvage the region, in an attempt to rescue her reputation and perhaps mend her relationship with her son. As the ship travels deeper into the eerie landscape, Ivy become increasingly suspicious of her fellow passengers, but there’s nowhere to go.
When I started this book, I was really expecting a voyage-turns-sinister story with mystery/thriller vibes. That’s not what I got. The story focuses primarily on Ivy’s life in activism and her marriage, as she reflects on the choices she’s made which have ultimately led to where she is now. It’s thought provoking and provides a solid commentary on climate change, but is, sadly, quite boring.
The flashbacks and constant reflection slow the pace considerably (which was probably intentional to reflect the long and slow journey to Antarctica, but *yawn*) and I really struggled to warm to Ivy at all. She mostly came across as selfish and full of self-inflicted regret.
I really wanted to like it, but I just didn’t.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
When I started this book, I was really expecting a voyage-turns-sinister story with mystery/thriller vibes. That’s not what I got. The story focuses primarily on Ivy’s life in activism and her marriage, as she reflects on the choices she’s made which have ultimately led to where she is now. It’s thought provoking and provides a solid commentary on climate change, but is, sadly, quite boring.
The flashbacks and constant reflection slow the pace considerably (which was probably intentional to reflect the long and slow journey to Antarctica, but *yawn*) and I really struggled to warm to Ivy at all. She mostly came across as selfish and full of self-inflicted regret.
I really wanted to like it, but I just didn’t.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
October 4, 2025
3
setting: Antarctica/USA
Rep: lesbian protagonist
I've really been loving climate fiction recently, especially with queer protagonists, so I had high hopes for this one as it's pitched as an eco thriller. there is nothing thriller about it. it's mostly a character study of Ivy, who is on a trip to the antarctic after her wife has died and her son has disowned her. she does not come across well at all, and any sense of mystery or intrigue was unfortunately bogged down in a lot of reflections and flashbacks that slowed the pace way down. I wish the atmosphere/world had been a bit more fleshed out
setting: Antarctica/USA
Rep: lesbian protagonist
I've really been loving climate fiction recently, especially with queer protagonists, so I had high hopes for this one as it's pitched as an eco thriller. there is nothing thriller about it. it's mostly a character study of Ivy, who is on a trip to the antarctic after her wife has died and her son has disowned her. she does not come across well at all, and any sense of mystery or intrigue was unfortunately bogged down in a lot of reflections and flashbacks that slowed the pace way down. I wish the atmosphere/world had been a bit more fleshed out
September 3, 2025
I was really excited for the premise of this novel - I love reading books set in Antartica. Unfortunatley I really struggled to follow the progression of Hale's plotline. I found the intentions of the crew difficult to follow, and the layers of deception hard to distinguish from the unreliable narration. Things because a bit more crisp toward the end, but the middle was not an enjoyable reading experience for me.
March 30, 2025
A very interesting story told in a creative way. Good beginning and middle. The ending made me feel the author had run out of pages. Well worth reading as a version of what the future could hold if we do not take urgent action on climate change.
January 4, 2025
It's beautiful to read, in particular the descriptions of Antarctica. The billionaire character is very well shaped. You feel as if you can touch him.
Read
January 21, 2025Aptly, for a book about Antarctica, the pace was glacial. 90 pages in literally nothing has happened in the way of plot, just a huge amount of incredibly dull back story, and setting.
August 11, 2024
3.5
The mysteries at the heart of this book really kept me going!
This is my rating scale:
5 masterpiece
4 holy crap that's good
3 would recommend to a friend
2 not a complete waste of time
1 eh
The mysteries at the heart of this book really kept me going!
This is my rating scale:
5 masterpiece
4 holy crap that's good
3 would recommend to a friend
2 not a complete waste of time
1 eh
November 26, 2024
An increasingly dark and disturbing dystopian eco-thriller ... rather slow to get going but soon became unputdownable as the tension increased. Definitely a thought-provoking read!
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews