Plus three quarters of a star. The cover had lot of spoilers which was annoying before I even started, and continued to annoy. However it was a satisfying read. I took it slowly, taking each short chapter one at a time. About half way through I wondered how I was so sure that the narrator was a girl and had a trawl back through the book to check - and found nothing to tell me either way - which I liked. I also liked the way the strands of the story only gradually set themselves in their own timelines. ( )

A true gem of a book. I don't think I have ever shed a tear over the loss of an inanimate object before.
This book has such likable, believable characters. The authors research is evident. she has written a remarkable original tale.
Isla and her brother are sad. They have arrived in Hobart to begin a new life with their mother. Money is scarce and the house they live in is bleak and cold. One morning Isla watches as a big red ship docks at the wharf, as she awaits the ferry to school. A lone crew member waves to her from the deck.
Her Mum coincidentally forms a relationship with him. The ship is the Nella Dan, leased by the Australian government to provide transport, support and research to the members of the Antarctic Research team.
Bo spends two summers with the family and a deep affection and bond grows between them. ( )

A love letter to the Antartica exploration ship Nella Dan is one of the stories in this lyrical novel. Set over two summers in the mid-1980s, this novel is also the story of Isla, the teenage narrator, and Bo, a cook on the Nella Dan. And it’s a story about relationships: the paternal one Isla has with Bo; the less paternal she has with her mother and the protective one she has with her younger brother.

Her mother and younger brother aren’t named, which keeps the focus on the main game: Isla, Bo and the Nella Dan. And her father, a major influence, isn’t named. He doesn’t make a physical appearance but his presence is pre-eminent.

The reading is easy; the words wonderfully woven. Parrett has the gift of conveying so much in so few words. There is more going on that what the words tell which is one of the book’s strengths.
Bo’s romantic relationship with Isla’s mother is implied; as is a dark past. Love and the impermanency of relationships is a theme of this melancholic but marvellous book. ( )

I loved this very quiet story from the point of view of a recently uprooted girl (Isla) who has moved to Hobart, Tasmania with her brother and mother, and a Danish man (Bo) who is a second cook on an Antarctic research vessel and is in a relationship with the Isla's mother. The most interesting dynamic in the story is between Isla and Bo, even though Bo is often away for long stretches at sea. The Nella Dan gives Bo stability and purpose, and, in turn, Bo provides Isla with stability and comfort that her mother cannot give. ( )

This was quite a nice book to read, but it didn't really GO anywhere.
The characters could have been interesting, but we really only only got to know the young girl and the sailor. I would like to have known a bit more of the background to the story, such as why the mother went to Hobart and how they met the sailor.
The ship, the Nella Dan was the main character in the book and the story about her and about her fate was very interesting. ( )