North of Hope is an incredible, beautifully written journey of grief and healing. The author, Shannon Huffman Polson, retells the tragic story of her father and stepmother’s death in the Arctic, as well as her own personal journey into the Arctic a year later to complete the adventure they never got to finish.

Interwoven between these two tales are stories from her childhood that help bring context to the situation and help draw the reader in with every chapter. She writes so fluidly, so melodically, and each word is carefully chosen to convey the intended meaning.

I connected with the author almost immediately–as a musician, as a Christian, and as a daughter, especially, but also as a traveler myself. I loved the vivid descriptions she gave of her surroundings while in the Arctic and I truly felt like I was there with her. And I felt the depth of her pain in losing her parents, though I’ve never experienced this myself.

This book is powerful, beautiful, and somber. It will cause you to reflect and ponder your own life as you read how the author navigated this tragedy.

Here’s a “trailer” for the book: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XeaHKJ0iPIA

I received a copy of this book from Zondervan in exchange for my honest review.