by Brian Toal
Breathe by Mollie Hughes
The subtitle is ‘Life Lessons from the Edge of the World’, and throughout the book Hughes regales us with her own adventures and interviews other adventurers in order to glean these life lessons.
What can we learn about the human spirit when you are skiing solo for 600 nautical miles in Antarctica? Plus what can we learn from the woman who paddle-boarded around Britain? What can endurance swimmers tell us about perseverance? Some of these lessons are fairly obvious: don’t give up, don’t listen to your demons, stay calm and carry on. However, in her recounting of her own Everest adventures – the youngest woman to summit Everest and the youngest woman to summit from both sides – Hughes really digs into what it is about the human spirit that endures when we are up against it.
At no point does this book descend into the tawdry ‘self-help’ genre: positive affirmations are mentioned, as is meditation and breathing, but get far more than a nod and a glancing blow in the way that most ‘inspirational books’ tend to treat these topics.
In 2020, Hughes was the first woman to become president of Scouts Scotland.
And what a champion they have chosen. She really is an inspiration to all those youngsters beginning their own adventures.
‘…witnessing a person achieving a specific challenge that you can identify with, be they of similar age, gender, ethnicity or sexuality to you…can effectively build your own self-efficacy; it can make you believe more in your own abilities.’
She quotes Billy Jean King in this same section on self-belief as King famously said, ‘You have to see it to be it.’ As a young gay woman who is now leading the Scottish Scouts, she will no doubt inspire future generations to push themselves to the limit, to persevere, to show resilience and grit and all those qualities we want our young people to possess.
‘A positive stress mindset is understanding that pressure is good for us: it can greatly increase our performance and our achievements.’
At school we often talk to our young people about eustress rather that distress, and that getting the balance right is the difference between being prepared and keyed up for an assessment or panicking and stressing out. She also deals with a positive headspace and combatting loneliness in one of the final sections. Hughes notes that ‘Loneliness is more than a feeling of unhappiness, it is a harmful physiological response to isolation.’ She finishes this section by stating that she and many of her fellow adventurers rarely feel lonely when out in nature. The social isolation many experience tends to come from our modern, busy tech-filled lifestyles.
The Ferryman and His Wife by Frode Grytten
Nils Vik has been the ferryman for years, transporting people across the fjord to and from the city, listening to their stories, taking them to appointments, consoling them and admonishing them. We meet him on his last day heading out to sea where he is joined by all his passengers from beyond the grave. The stories emerge slowly as Nils is reminded of the events of his life – the highs and lows – and we wait for that final passenger, Marta, his wife.
I was surprised by this book as I chose it as something quick to skim through, something which wouldn’t particularly challenge me. How wrong I was. Grytten has a way of sideswiping you, lulling you into a false sense of security with what seems like a fairly saccharine story until from out of nowhere is a blow to the solar plexus – an affair, a suicide, an abortion. Just as you think you know where the story is going, you are pulled in a different direction like a riptide tugging the ferry off course. Nils and Marta have a loving relationship on the surface. He loves his girls and they love him, but is that enough?
His alcoholic brother makes an appearance. Unrequited love, infidelity and heartbreak are all here. It’s got ‘Netflix Original Drama’ written all over it. ‘This was, in spite of everything, a great tale now – a story with endless outlines and drafts, but a story with an ending…’
The Lone Husky by Hannah Gold
By Annie Roxburgh (P7)
Jordanhill School
April Wood craves adventure. At only 11-years-old she has a polar bear friend, Bear. She lives in Svalbard with her dad and his girlfriend. She is friends with Hedda, an experienced musher who runs a husky sanctuary. April loves animals and loves to help Hedda looking after huskies in her spare time. Later, April finds an abandoned husky and takes him back where Hedda helps nourish and take care of him. When Hedda finds out she cannot compete in a husky annual race due to an injury, April steps up and together they prepare to go against Hedda’s arch nemesis, Ace.
After lots of practising the race shortly arrives and April shocks everybody by winning the race against world champions. In April’s true style her kindness was her most important factor.
‘The Lone Husky’ slowly lured me into a great world all about April and her compassion with animals. This is Hannah Gold’s third book staring April as the protagonist. It builds on April’s previous adventures with Bear and the impact on her relationship with her dad who learns to appreciate April’s bravery and skills. Gold gives a depth of description for each character that means the reader feels they know them.
This was an enjoyable and uplifting read that highlights the vastness of nature in the Arctic. April’s relationships with nature and the environment help her to remain grounded and stay true to herself.
All books are available from Waterstones Byres Road
