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The Ice Balloon
A remarkable, tragic and gracefully told love story of a journalist determined to uncover the truth and a damaged woman desperate to leave the past behind.
1897 - As explorers and scientists scramble to conquer the North Pole, Nils Strindberg, with fellow adventurers S. A. Andrée and Knut Frænkel, takes up the challenge. Setting flight in a hydrogen balloon, Nils leaves his fiancée Anna and his brother Erik behind in Stockholm anxiously waiting his return.
1930 - When the men's remains are discovered on the frozen island of Kvitøya, the news makes headlines around the world. Brash young journalist Knut Stubbendorff is sent to report from the site and uncovers, among the debris, journals filled with love letters to Anna. Wanting to know more about the man who left his love to embark on a journey that was doomed from the start, Stubbendorff is determined to find her ... but Anna doesn't want to be found.
In a search that uncovers lost loves, deceit and long-buried secrets, Stubbendorff discovers a story that has stayed hidden for decades and the people who have been concealing it.
A compelling novel of discovery, loves lost and a deception that spanned a lifetime ... inspired by true events.
The Ice Balloon was first published in 2013 as Perfect North by Hachette Australia
1897 - As explorers and scientists scramble to conquer the North Pole, Nils Strindberg, with fellow adventurers S. A. Andrée and Knut Frænkel, takes up the challenge. Setting flight in a hydrogen balloon, Nils leaves his fiancée Anna and his brother Erik behind in Stockholm anxiously waiting his return.
1930 - When the men's remains are discovered on the frozen island of Kvitøya, the news makes headlines around the world. Brash young journalist Knut Stubbendorff is sent to report from the site and uncovers, among the debris, journals filled with love letters to Anna. Wanting to know more about the man who left his love to embark on a journey that was doomed from the start, Stubbendorff is determined to find her ... but Anna doesn't want to be found.
In a search that uncovers lost loves, deceit and long-buried secrets, Stubbendorff discovers a story that has stayed hidden for decades and the people who have been concealing it.
A compelling novel of discovery, loves lost and a deception that spanned a lifetime ... inspired by true events.
The Ice Balloon was first published in 2013 as Perfect North by Hachette Australia
350 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2013
5 people want to read
About the author
Jenny Bond
13 books16 followersJenny Bond is an author of historical fiction whose novels have been published in Australia, New Zealand and Europe and whose non-fiction titles have been published in Australia and the USA.
Jenny, an English teacher and an accomplished copywriter and researcher, is currently working on her third novel, expected to be finished early late 2020.
Born and raised in Sydney, Australia, Jenny earned a Bachelor of Arts and a Diploma of Education at Macquarie University. Prior to her reinvention as a writer, she held the position of Head of English at Eaton House The Manor in London’s Clapham Common. Jenny also taught English and Drama for eight years at a selective high school in Sydney.
"I have not spent even one day without a book by my side, so slipping from the act of reading into the act of writing didn't actually seem that much of a change," she says. "I get a little bit lost in the research and writing process and now I couldn't actually imagine life without it. The characters are fascinating to live with and sometimes it can be difficult to finally admit the book is finished, to actually send the manuscript away to the publisher."
Jenny has long been a fan of great historical fiction writers such as Hilary Mantel and Kate Atkinson but also spends quality time with books by authors from other genres such as Jane Harper and Adrian McKinty
Jenny enjoys keeping fit and loves to travel. She lives with her husband in Canberra where they enjoy spending time with their two young sons and their very lively dog.
Jenny, an English teacher and an accomplished copywriter and researcher, is currently working on her third novel, expected to be finished early late 2020.
Born and raised in Sydney, Australia, Jenny earned a Bachelor of Arts and a Diploma of Education at Macquarie University. Prior to her reinvention as a writer, she held the position of Head of English at Eaton House The Manor in London’s Clapham Common. Jenny also taught English and Drama for eight years at a selective high school in Sydney.
"I have not spent even one day without a book by my side, so slipping from the act of reading into the act of writing didn't actually seem that much of a change," she says. "I get a little bit lost in the research and writing process and now I couldn't actually imagine life without it. The characters are fascinating to live with and sometimes it can be difficult to finally admit the book is finished, to actually send the manuscript away to the publisher."
Jenny has long been a fan of great historical fiction writers such as Hilary Mantel and Kate Atkinson but also spends quality time with books by authors from other genres such as Jane Harper and Adrian McKinty
Jenny enjoys keeping fit and loves to travel. She lives with her husband in Canberra where they enjoy spending time with their two young sons and their very lively dog.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
January 9, 2026
The love triangle (of sorts) between Anna and Erik is quietly compelling, with journalist Knut Stubbendorrf serving as the ideal outsider, both as witness and interrogator, prompting readers to question not only their choices but the stories they tell themselves to survive them.
As the novel moves between the fraught lead-up to the balloon’s launch, the frozen desolation of the Arctic, and the emotional aftershocks left behind, The Ice Balloon becomes less about the doomed expedition and more about the human need to impose meaning on catastrophe.
In the end, as the novel itself suggests, nothing can be altered, but much can be understood. By inviting us to “see the world more clearly”, this haunting, elegantly crafted novel reminds us that while history may be fixed, our interpretations of love, loyalty and loss remain as fluid and fragile as the ice beneath Andrée’s balloon.
As the novel moves between the fraught lead-up to the balloon’s launch, the frozen desolation of the Arctic, and the emotional aftershocks left behind, The Ice Balloon becomes less about the doomed expedition and more about the human need to impose meaning on catastrophe.
In the end, as the novel itself suggests, nothing can be altered, but much can be understood. By inviting us to “see the world more clearly”, this haunting, elegantly crafted novel reminds us that while history may be fixed, our interpretations of love, loyalty and loss remain as fluid and fragile as the ice beneath Andrée’s balloon.
Displaying 1 of 1 review