The Wager and the Bear John Ironmonger 9781915789501

When young idealist Tom publicly humiliates politician Monty in a Cornish pub, it sparks a simmering feud that cascades through their intertwined lives. The consequences of their argument, and the deadly wager they strike, will cascade down the decades. Years later, they find themselves a long way from St Piran onto a colossal iceberg drifting south away from Greenland, their only companion a starving polar bear. This is a heart-stopping tale of anger, tragedy, and enduring love, cast against the long unfolding backdrop of an irreversible global crisis.

John Ironmonger was born in East Africa and is now based in Cheshire. He has a doctorate in zoology, and was once an expert on freshwater leeches. He is the author of The Good Zoo Guide and the novels The Notable Brain of Maximilian Ponder (shortlisted for the 2012 Costa First Novel Prize and the Guardian's Not the Booker Prize), The Coincidence Authority and The Whale at the End of the World (an international bestseller). He has also been part of a world record team for speed reading Shakespeare, has driven across the Sahara in a GBP100 banger, and once met Jared Diamond in a forest in the middle of Sumatra.

'A novel full of warmth, wit and wisdom. John Ironmonger weaves another charm of a story' - Essie Fox, Author of 'The Fascination'

'Totally transporting, 'The Wager and the Bear' manages to be gritty and magical all at once. We're pulled inevitably onwards, strung between change and fate, until you aren't sure which is which. Captivating: an all-round cracking read.' - Anna Freeman, Author of 'The Fair Fight'

'Ironmonger's settings are explorable, and his characters the more intriguing the more you get to know them. His writing is warm and witty; this may well be a book you'll read more than once. It'll sing different songs to different readers. What I heard was the importance of avoiding capture by pessimism or optimism, those vampiric impostors, and instead finding a praxis that is based on realism, hope and above all on doing.' - The Morning Star Newspaper