THE STORY SO FAR
On a steamship to Nome, Alaska, 1901. American sisters Imelda and Tilly have agreed to take their young English cousin, Charlotte, on a steamship to Alaska, where thousands of stampeders are heading in search of gold. Charlotte, suffering from a broken heart after she and her unsuitable sweetheart were separated back in Britain, finds solace only in playing her harp and taking solitary walks on deck. Her apparent dignity hides a deep hurt, and she plainly regards herself as a prisoner – and the sisters as her jailers. It’s an uneasy existence in the confines of a ship. Dining with the captain one evening, there’s a conversation about Charlotte practising a piece from an Italian opera about forbidden love. This turns to the coincidence of an Italian quartet being on board. When Tilly suggests that there could be a musical union between them all, Charlotte gets upset and makes an abrupt exit.
Shall we take a walk, instead of going straight back to the cabin?’ Imelda said after they left the captain’s quarters. Charlotte’s sudden departure felt like a wound exposed. ‘Don’t think I can settle quite yet.’
‘Oh dear.’ Tilly replied. ‘What was I thinking, suggesting such things?’
‘Don’t punish yourself, dear.’ Imelda linked Tilly’s arm as they reached the promenade deck. ‘Charlotte’s emotions are a mystery. Oh my, look!’ After so many days with nothing but water, there was land in the distance. ‘The Aleutian Islands.’
‘That’s enough to gladden the heaviest heart,’ Tilly said. ‘The thought of