When Ginni Bazlinton signed up for a voyage to the planet's fifth largest and coldest continent, she did not know what to expect. An icy wilderness governed by no nation, where virtually the only natives are penguins and seals, Antarctica was a vast unknown when she set off on the rugged scientific vessel the Akademik Shokalskiy. From this grandmother 'next door' comes a first-hand encounter with a region unknown to many, a fascinating book about the miracle that is Antarctica and an understanding of humanity's ambiguous role within it.