The Outposters

At the subantarctic end of the world, a woman navigates, grief, forgiveness, and the strange things we do to survive

“Wry, tender, utterly immersive…I was under its spell until the very last page.” —Leslie Jamison, author of Splinters

When Frankie Nickel accepts a job running HR for The Outpost, a misbegotten eco-resort under construction in the South Atlantic, she hopes that she and her husband Lou can escape their grief over a tragic loss they suffered five years earlier. It’s a more dramatic change of scene than Lou had in mind (“I meant, like, Portland!”), but Frankie, a lapsed environmentalist and David Attenborough acolyte, sees a lot to like about an uninhabited island and together, she and Lou head south.

At first, Frankie is drawn in by the otherworldly landscape, her eccentric colleagues, and enough drunken karaoke sessions to get her through the punishing winter. But life at The Outpost takes a turn when a new friend’s crisis puts Frankie and Lou in a precarious position, and Frankie finds that the old adage “wherever you go, there you are” holds true even at this far end of the earth. Soon she’s forced to navigate the complexities of her war-weary marriage, the temptation of new love, and the impossible task of saving her friend without sinking herself, all while the resort marches toward its grand opening.

With sparkling humor, wisdom, and empathy, Rebeca Herman explores both the challenges and the unexpected rewards that life throws our way, often in the unlikeliest places.