A Woman in the Polar Night - (Pushkin Press Classics) by Christiane Ritter (Paperback)

About the Book

In 1934, the painter Christiane Ritter leaves her comfortable life in Austria and travels to the remote Arctic island of Spitsbergen, to spend a year there with her husband. She thinks it will be a relaxing trip, a chance to "read thick books in the remote quiet and, not least, sleep to my heart's content," but when Christiane arrives she's shocked to realize that they are to live in a tiny ramshackle hut on the shores of a lonely fjord, hundreds of miles from the nearest settlement, battling the elements every day, just to survive. This luminous classic memoir tells the inspiring tale of a woman who found freedom and fulfilment in the adventure of a lifetime.

Book Synopsis

"An epic story, elegantly told and full of mystery." -- Maggie Shipstead, author of Great Circle

A rediscovered classic memoir - the mesmerizingly beautiful account of one woman's year spent living in a remote hut in the Arctic

"A refreshing voice in the canon of Arctic literature. . . charms its reader with its simple candor. Readers will delight in Ritter's frank impressions and candid remarks. - The Wall Street Journal

This rediscovered classic memoir tells the incredible tale of a woman defying society's expectations to find freedom and peace in the adventure of a lifetime.

In 1934, the painter Christiane Ritter leaves her comfortable life in Austria and travels to the remote Arctic island of Spitsbergen, to spend a year there with her husband. She thinks it will be a relaxing trip, a chance to 'read thick books in the remote quiet and, not least, sleep to my heart's content', but when Christiane arrives she is shocked to realize that they are to live in a tiny ramshackle hut on the shores of a lonely fjord, hundreds of miles from the nearest settlement, battling the elements every day, just to survive.

At first, Christiane is horrified by the freezing cold, the bleak landscape the lack of equipment and supplies... But as time passes, after encounters with bears and seals, long treks over the ice and months on end of perpetual night, she finds herself falling in love with the Arctic's harsh, otherworldly beauty, gaining a great sense of inner peace and a new appreciation for the sanctity of life.

Review Quotes

"An epic story, elegantly told and full of mystery. Even though I could never hope to match her bravery and aplomb, Ritter made me long to decamp at once for the harshest and wildest corners of the earth."
--Maggie Shipstead, author of Great Circle

"Like all the best travel writers, Ritter transports readers to the otherworldly landscape she encounters... The 'unimaginable world of splendour and beauty' she describes is enough to make you want to say goodbye to sun loungers in Saint-Tropez, in favour of eking out an existence in a frozen shack in Svalbard"
--Independent, The books we're packing for summer 2025 holidays

About the Author

Born in 1897, Christiane Ritter was an Austrian activist and author. She wrote A Woman in the Polar Night on her return to Austria from Spitsbergen in 1934. It has since become a classic of travel writing, never going out of print in German and being translated into seven other languages. Christiane Ritter died in Vienna in 2000 at the age of 103.