The White Darkness is a book that I expected to enjoy a great deal. However, I was not expecting to be able to relate to the main character in any way! The story is about 14 year old, Symone Wates, who goes to a school where all the girls are...well the kind of girls that think that boys and sex are the only things that matter in life.
So naturally, Sym is outcasted and thought of as a "dork" or a "nerd". One unusual thing about Sym is her "overactive imagination".Captain Titus Oates, the hero of the Antarctic, has been dead for over a century! But in Sym's head, he is her companion, her soul mate! Sounds a bit weird but that is what I related to, and I'm sure many of you can relate to as well.
Children often have an imaginary friend, but Sym's "imaginary friend" was someone who was once real. It's not that hard to believe! I myself used to, and sometimes still do when I'm angry or upset, talk to the posters on my wall. Other children may have talked to themselves but assumed that they were talking to someone that no-one else could see, and others may talk to their teddies - I know that I was one of those children.
One day, Sym goes on a trip to Paris with her "uncle" Victor (who is in fact, her late-father's business partner). Victor takes Sym on an expedition to the South Pole and throughout the book it does seem as though she well share the same fate as the man that she believes to be inside her head.
This book is wonderful in many ways. I believe that it really is something that people can relate to - wanting to do what their heros have done, having imaginary friends! The book is written in Sym's point of view and some of the conversations that are going on in Sym's head are the funniest things that I know I have definatly had in some point of my 15 years of life!
The story is gripping and is very adventurous and the use of McCaughrean's discription is excellent. I loved the idea that you can love a man who died even before you were born! The ideas in the novel are fantastic, and the characters and story lines are believable. I would give this book a straight 8 out of 10 and I suggest that you all read it!
By Gurpreet K Sihat
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