Shiver

Young love, in danger

Shiver cover
Genre: 

In her first novel Nikki Gemmell delves into the emotional depth of love and loss set in the wilderness of Antarctica. A young woman gets the chance of a lifetime.  To go to ‘the land of mythical tragedies, the place of ships’ hulls being crushed by ice, of long journeys into darkness and death, of soles falling from feet and being strapped back on, of teeth freezing and splitting, fingers dying, toenails coming away, mates disappearing through holes in the ice, mates walking away into blizzards, saying I’m just going outside and may be some time and never coming back…’

Surrounded by the cruel beauty of the last great wilderness on Earth, she finds herself transfixed by the power of the land.

Travelling and living with a close-knit and idiosyncratic team, Fin learns the rules and taboos of community life in Antarctica, and then promptly breaks the strictest taboo of all – she falls in love.  The consequences are shattering.

Lyrical, haunting and sometimes painfully moving, Shiver is a first novel of great power and beauty.

‘Nikki Gemmel lobs emotional depth charges in her first novel about love and loss amid the wilderness of Antarctica.’ – Murray Waldren, The Australian

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About the Author

Nikki Gemmell

Nikki Gemmell was born in Wollongong.  After stints as an actress, shop assistant and waitress she turned to journalism, working in Sydney, Alice Springs and Darwin before studying writing at the University of Technology, Sydney. 

Shiver was her first book, which was a bestseller in Australia and France and received international critical acclaim. She subsequently wrote Cleave and Love Story and is the anonymous author of The Bride Stripped Bare.

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