Ross raised himself up on one elbow, still holding her hand and looked Alix full in the face. 'This is a good country,' he said earnestly, '...I will ask Leif to let us stay here when the longship goes back and you shall have your children here.'

An Old Captivity

In the shelter of a Greenland Fiord, shunned by their Eskimo Helpers, an elderly Oxford don and his golden-haired daughter listen to words - spoken as if in a dream by the young pilot who holds their lives in his hands. Words that bridge the gap of centuries ...

The difficulties, dangers and personal antagonisms of their strage expedition are forgotten as all three come under the spell of a haunting romance that began a thousand years ago.

I enjoyed this book. Neville Shute has managed in An Old Captivity to interweave stories from a thousand years ago with stories of his own time, to create a story which is rich, powerful and compelling.

An Old Captivity manages to bring Greenland to life in a way which I have never considered it before. After all, who considers greenland in the first place? Not many of us, thats for sure. Shute has managed to show that Greenland has its own fascinating history and may well be a place which should be more explored.

What Neville Shute has also managed to do - as always - is provide his stories with an incredible depth of character. His characterisation and dialogue are impeccable and always leave the reader with a sense of how the world should be, a world where men are gentlemen and women are ladies.

Neville Shute's books are always readable and always leave me wondering where I can find another one. Thats pretty high praise.