The Lost Climber’s Legacy

Julia Millen is a tramper, a climber, and a mountaineer. On top of all that, she’s a writer! Her first novel, following 17 earlier works, is a true summit of all three, offering thrills, spills, triumphs, and shocks enough to satisfy the most demanding literary mounter.

To say nothing of mystery and suspense. These are signalled at the outset by the central character Deirdre in her words: “She’d put the past behind her, moved on, and had no intention of going back. Never look back.” Fate was about to fly in the face of such a determination, and the gradual unfolding of what’s deeply bothering Deirdre forms the following narrative.

Deirdre, or Dee as she prefers to be called, has had quite a life. Having to recall it 30 years on, when hearing the disturbing news that human remains of a climber have been found in a South Island glacier, brings a mixture of tension, excitement, and guilt. All that time ago, on a mountain expedition in the company of fellow climbers – all men but one – she’d enjoyed sexual encounters with a few while the others were absent. Away climbing.

And one of them has had an accident. But which one? And what was Dee’s connection with him? And with what consequences? The narrative moves back and forth in an increasingly gripping ascension involving all characters – Dee’s ailing mother and daughter included.

Descriptions of climbers’ actions in the face of obstacles and hazards are graphic. Readers may easily imagine Millen has faced them personally. Slippery snow-spattered rock and overhanging fractured ice must be navigated, bad weather endured, and hunger and thirst unabated until safety is reached in the form of a hut or shelter, or at least a handful of scroggin. Relief is palpable.    

References to the 60s will arouse wry grins in readers who recall landline telephones, messy student flats, and hard-to-get prescriptions for the pill.

Put your boots on, rope up, and go searching for the lost climber’s legacy.