The coldest place on earth

by Kate Barker-Mawjee

‘The coldest place on earth’ is an intimate, affecting and beautifully realised journey into the mind of Irina Petruchevsky; an ordinary woman, fighting to survive a life lived in a truly extraordinary world.

Irina runs a failing motel in a dying Siberian town. She supplements her dwindling income by trekking to the weather station, beyond the last, lonely wooden house at the very end of Libsky Street, to record the daily temperature.

But when a young woman from Moscow, Anya, arrives at the motel, Irina’s precarious existence is threatened. Anya is an engineer, sent from the Institute to automate the weather station. It seems Irina’s services will no longer be needed. Desperate to delay the work, Irina gathers her courage and begins a conversation that could change her life forever.

ebook

Published November 15, 2022

Reviews

[Tracy Duckett · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really don't know what to think about this book at all.
On the one hand; it's so well written that it pulls you right into Irina's world - so kudos to the author for that.
On the other hand; Irina's world is a thoroughly depressing place to be (and I don't mean because of the cold) - so it's hard to really feel positive about the experience of reading it.
I slightly feel that I must be missing something, that there's some deeper meaning here that I have failed to pick up on. So yeah maybe it's just me, maybe I just don't get it idk

[Maria White · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an original, moving and beautifully written debut novel. We follow Irina Petruchevsky, in her 40s, eking out her existence in a dead-end Siberian town. Irina gives purpose to her life by trekking every day through the extreme cold to record the temperature at the local weather station and transmitting it back to Moscow. The only thing that really happens in the book is that an engineer, a younger woman, arrives from Moscow to install equipment at the weather station so that temperatures will transmit automatically and Irina's services will no longer be needed. Irina begins by resenting the engineer, but the engineer's curiosity and vitality become the catalyst for change for Irina, for how she sees her life - how she came to be in this cramped apartment, with this ground-down husband, this contemptuous son, these failed hopes and accumulated disappointments and resentments. Irina's vivid internal life is brilliantly conveyed, the soundtrack to her life of endlessly accommodating others, trying to make the best of it, keeping the show on the road - until she can no longer summon the will to do so. It's bleak, you feel the freezing wind at all times, you're desperate for the husband and son to notice Irina, bestow a kindness. An honest and affecting story about the challenge of finding meaning in a difficult and dispiriting life.

[Jemmy Bloocher · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautiful book. I can’t possibly do it justice with a review. Irina is both a difficult yet likeable character- not least because she resides in all women who have lived in situations which test them and prevent them from fulfilling their emotional/ physical potential- their dreams.
It is an honest book. The way she sees things are thoughts I imagine many of us have had but don’t care to admit to ourselves.
Certain passages are worthy of writing notes on and I regret not having a pen with me. The author has written some really gorgeous phrases.
I really recommend this one and I look forward to reading more from her.

[Karen Soole · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel a bit mean giving this 3 stars because if I rated the writing alone it would be 5 stars. However, the story is possibly 'the coldest' story I read for a long time.
It is atmospheric, the sense of place is superb. The emotional journey of the the protagonist is heart wrenching but at the same time she is difficult to like. Her pain and anger close her to others who are also shut off and cold. All the relationships are frozen. The hope that appears is torn away and it ends even more frozen than it begins. You need to be feeling robust to finish this!

[Alicat13 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am so so so upset this book only has 30 reviews because WOW. I picked it up in a charity shop and thought I’d come on here and it would be a popular book because it’s so well written, but I had to type in the full name and author - every single sentence in this book resonated, so relatable even with thinks that have never happened to me. And so many mundane things where I thought ha! That is so true but I’ve never actually thought about it. Truly truly good book

[Banu Biba · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this to be an absolutely immersive read and the protagonist, Irina, was beautifully realised. It’s a difficult feat to make a reader feel so invested in the fate of a flawed character and I cared deeply about what would become of her. Genuinely my favourite read of 22.

[Elsa Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really well written. Loved the way the engineer is portrayed as a beacon of hope and thought optimistically it would end happily. Felt a bit depressed by the end though - but I think with 'the coldest place on earth' as the title, that's to be expected really!