by Ann Turner
Ann Turner
2016
BOOK CLUB NOTES
1. Antarctica is a unique setting for the novel. How does the location add to the suspense, and how crucial is this setting to the story? What place does Antarctica hold in our collective imagination?
2. Laura Alvarado has a troubled past. Do you think that this has played a part in her strong feelings towards Antarctica and its wildlife? How has it affected her view of the world? Is Laura an unreliable narrator?
3. How would you interpret the title Out of the Ice? Does it have more than one meaning?
4. Migration, of both wildlife and humans, is a theme in Out of the Ice. How is the long history of migration depicted?
5. The destruction, but also the survival of family is a continuing theme in the story. Does the book explore more than one type of family? Ultimately, does it raise questions regarding the notion of family and what it – and home – can mean?
6. The story looks at how the whalers’ actions in the past are judged in the present. It links this with global warming and how the potential destruction of the environment is perhaps not understood by some in the same way that the whalers didn’t comprehend the level of emotion that whales feel, and their evolved communication skills. Do you agree, or disagree, with these ideas? How do you view the past through the prism of the present?
7. Scientists conducting experiments are depicted in Out of the Ice. Can science ever be justified as being above ethics and morality if it is for the greater good of humanity?
8. Discuss how the book looks at human progress – from the whalers, to the scientists, to the migrants and refugees in search of a better life. How vulnerable are children in this?
9. Friendship between women is a fundamental aspect of this story. How is the friendship depicted between Laura, Kate and Georgia? And between Helen and Nancy? How does friendship help these women? And how do women fare in isolated, male-oriented environments?
10. Fredelighavn Whaling Station is a haunted place, and Laura feels a presence there, although she believes in ghosts of memory, not the supernatural. But in sites of bloody violence, can ghosts visit?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Photograph by Kristian Gehradte
Ann Turner is an award-winning screenwriter and director, avid reader and history lover. She is drawn to salt-sprayed coasts, luminous landscapes, and the people who inhabit them all over the world. Her films include the historical feature Celia, starring Rebecca Smart – which Time Out listed as one of the fifty greatest directorial debuts of all time; Hammers Over The Anvil, starring Russell Crowe and Charlotte Rampling; and the psychological thriller Irresistible starring Susan Sarandon, Sam Neill and Emily Blunt. Ann has lectured in film at the Victorian College of the Arts.
Her bestselling debut novel The Lost Swimmer investigates the consequences of love and trust. In her second novel, Out of the Ice, a mystery thriller set in Antarctica, Ann explores the dark side of human progress and a past and present of tragedy, deception and survival. Ann was born in Adelaide and lives in Victoria.
Visit Ann’s website at AnnTurnerAuthor.com
Also by Ann Turner
The Lost Swimmer
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are used fictitiously.
OUT OF THE ICE
First published in Australia in 2016 by
Simon & Schuster (Australia) Pty Limited
Suite 19A, Level 1, 450 Miller Street, Cammeray, NSW 2062
A CBS Company
Sydney New York London Toronto New Delhi
Visit our website at www.simonandschuster.com.au
© Ann Turner 2016
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of the publisher.
National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry
Creator: Turner, Ann, 1960- author.
Title: Out of the ice/Ann Turner.
ISBN: 9781925030891 (paperback)
ISBN: 9781925030907 (ebook)
Subjects: Whaling stations – Antarctica – Fiction.
Suspense fiction.
Antarctica – Fiction.
Dewey Number: A823.4
Cover design: Christabella Designs
Cover image: Eastcott Momatiuk/Getty Images
Typeset by Midland Typesetters, Australia