At the subantarctic end of the world, a woman navigates grief, forgiveness, and the strange things we do to survive

“Wry, tender, utterly immersive… I was under its spell until the very last page.” —Leslie Jamison, author of Splinters

Stalled out in San Francisco five years after a tragic loss, Frankie and her husband, Lou, accept jobs at the Outpost, a misbegotten eco-resort under construction in the South Atlantic. It’s a far cry from the sensible move to Portland that Lou, a sober therapist, had in mind. But Frankie, a lapsed environmentalist and David Attenborough acolyte who prefers wildlife documentaries to Al-Anon meetings, sees a lot to like about an uninhabited island: together, she and Lou head south.

At first, Frankie is drawn in by her eccentric new colleagues and the drunken karaoke sessions that get them through the punishing winter. But when a friend’s crisis brings her unexpectedly close to the life she thought she’d left behind, Frankie finds that the old adage “wherever you go, there you are” holds true, even at this far end of the earth. Soon she has to confront the sorrow in her war-weary marriage, the temptation of new love, and the impossible task of saving her friend—without sinking herself.

With profound wisdom, humor, and empathy, Rebecca Herman explores both the challenges and the unexpected rewards that life throws our way, often in the unlikeliest places.