This exciting winter adventure for the Swallows and Amazons brings new friends; brother and sister Dick and Dorethea, as well as new challenges, as the lakes are frozen over and camping is impossible. To entertain themselves the children set off on an adventure to the North Pole.
As ever, Ransome’s attention to the detail of the countryside and his fine observation of the characters and their interactions makes gripping reading.
'You know what it's like. Dark at teatime and sleeping indoors: nothing ever happens in the winter holidays." Or so Nancy thinks. Then the lake ices over completely and the Swallows and Amazons, along with Dick and Dorothea -- 'the D's' -- plan a race to find the North Pole. How will they reach it if they can't sail? By sledges of course! But when a blizzard blows up and there is a mix up about signals, the D's disappear into the Arctic night. Disaster looms. Can the Swallows and Amazons save their friends?