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    Above All Things
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    Above All Things
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    Above All Things
    Audiobook11 hours

    Above All Things

    Written by Tanis Rideout

    Narrated by Emily Gray

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    "Tell me the story of Everest," she said, a fervent smile sweeping across her face, creasing the corners of her eyes. "Tell me about this mountain that's stealing you away from me."

    In 1924 George Mallory departs on his third expedition to reach the summit of Mount Everest. Left behind in Cambridge, George's young wife, Ruth, along with the rest of a war-ravaged England, anticipates news they hope will reclaim some of the empire's faded glory. Through alternating narratives, what emerges is a beautifully rendered story of love torn apart by obsession and the need for redemption.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateFeb 12, 2013
    ISBN9781101605035
    Unavailable
    Above All Things
    Author

    Tanis Rideout

    Tanis Rideout’s work has appeared in numerous publications and has been short-listed for several prizes, including a CBC Literary Award. Born in Belgium, she grew up in Bermuda and in Kingston, Ontario, and now lives in Toronto, where she received her MFA from the University of Guelph-Humber. Above All Things is her first novel.

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    Reviews for Above All Things

    4/5

    126 ratings35 reviews

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    • 4/5
      "Is this what it was all for? All the sacrifice?...They all paid the price for you... What was it all for, again?"By sally tarbox on 5 July 2017Format: Kindle EditionIs this what it was all for? All the sacrifice?...They all paid the price for you... What was it all for, again?"By sally tarbox on 5 July 2017Format: PaperbackA very moving portrayal of George Mallory's ill-fated 1924 attempt to climb Everest. In alternate chapters we follow Mallory and his team - taking his leave from his family, the journey by ship to India and the gradual ascent, the building of camps, the sherpas, the perishing cold, lack of oxygen and incipient hypothermia - and Mallory's wife Ruth, at home in Cambridge with her children and friends, as she muses over their relationship, waits for the next letter and must deal with the wider world, all eager for the latest on this adventure..."He heard his brain cells dying from the lack of oxygen. From the cold. Each of them ended with an audible pop, his mind bubbling like champagne. His lungs filled with fluid."The author does an excellent job at maintaining a narrative that's all about snow, ice and suffering. The story builds to a crescendo as the obsessed George and his keen young colleague, Sandy Irvine, make a last, reckless attempt on the summit...
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed this historical novel about the first efforts to climb Mt. Everest. Describing especially the technical aspects of the venture in that time, Ms. Rideout did an exceptional job. In bringing out the character of the participants, I also thought she did well, though I did not like many of them, as I suspect I would not have liked those egos in real life. Best was her sense of place.
    • 5/5
      I loved this book. A captivating character study as well as a complex and multi-themed novel. It's very well-written, and I couldn't put it down. I don't know why it hasn't gotten more attention. Highly recommended.
    • 3/5
      Ms. Rideout must have done some climbing, in snow, at altitude in order to weave this tale. She alternates between George Mallory and his wife's perspective on his last climb up the Mountain that challenged so many: Everest. Mallory is the one we have to thank for the quote about why he wanted to attempt this unpleasant adventure: "Because it is There". Perhaps because that is not a good enough reason for me, I have absolutely no desire to follow in his footsteps. But I did appreciate what the journey looked like both for him and for those he left behind.
    • 3/5
      Above All Things tells the story of Sir George Mallory's third attempt to climb Mount Everest - and the woes and heartbreak of the wife he left behind. The narrative is split between George and his wife, Ruth. George's sections were high flying, adventurous tales, while Ruth's sections show her aching desire to be with her husband again and the tedium of her life.This is a book that would make a great movie - if for nothing else than the spectacular scenery that would be part of the film. I wasn't blown away by Tanis Rideout's writing, but I found the book to be pleasant enough for a quick read. Having known about the fate of this expedition before I read it may have added a "spoiler" element to the story (almost liking waiting for the proverbial pot to boil). So, if you know nothing about Hillary's expeditions, then don't research them before you dive into this book.Recommended for readers who enjoy light but well-told stories of love, adventure and heartbreak.
    • 5/5
      Excellent, excellent book...I wasn’t sure I knew enough - or cared enough - about mountain climbing to be able to enjoy this story, but I was counting on the adventure to sweep me away. It did just that with a bonus. This is not a dry, technical account of man vs mountain. Rather, it is an impassioned journey into the psyches of a man who must conquer the impossible whatever the cost, and a woman who must support her husband’s love affair with a killer mountain to have any piece of him to call her own. This story is about George Mallory, early 1900s Everest adventurer, and his wife Ruth who unwillingly bore the cost of self sacrifice and deep loving. Both voices are strong and compelling.Beautifully written, this historical novel does take some license with the facts. In my opinion, this does not impair the flow or intent of the historical event. In fact, as Tanis Rideout explains in her author’s notes at the back of the book, the deviations from reality are meant to be symbolic, relevant, and ease the technical aspects. It is a powerful account of a time when mountaineering was an adventure for fame and country. The descriptions are astonishing, heart breaking, tender, and painful.“George collapsed in the snow, turned his back to the weight of the wind, and lowered his head into the hollow space between his legs and chest, searching for a still spot to breathe in. His body thrummed with exhaustion.They’d establish their last camp here, then tomorrow he and Teddy would push for the summit. George searched for the towering peak of it but couldn’t see it for the snow that was screaming sky-ward off the ridge above them, a curling wall of it, like the blown silk of Ruth’s wedding gown. He stared, hoping for a glimpse, until Teddy knocked him on the arm, held out his ice axe to him, and pointed with gloved hands at the snow.They had to get the tent up. Quickly. This high up the temperature plummeted to unbearable lows with the sun. The altitude, the lack of oxygen, amplified the cold. He bent over the tight, dry snow, swung his axe into it. One knock per breath.”The tension builds while you are reading until your muscles are aching and your breath is quickened. You strain for the summit of Everest with George while your heart is breaking for Ruth. Alternating between their personal and moving inner struggles pulls you forward; sometimes in frustration, and other times like a roller coaster ride.Highly recommended.
    • 5/5
      It is a stunning achievement that Tanis Rideout should write such a polished, captivating, gorgeous novel, made even more remarkable by the fact this is her first published novel. From the subtle opening hook to the shattering last paragraph, Above All Things sated my appetite for impeccably crafted fiction.Above All Things is a rich historical novel which recounts George Mallory's epic assent of Mount Everest, an alpine feat which still begs controversy and speculation. That Rideout should choose this event to spin into fiction required intimate knowledge of the period, the culture, and the particulars of mountain climbing. What is even more remarkable than her stellar research is the fact she chose to tell this story from three characters' perspectives (George Mallory, Ruth Mallory -- his wife-- and Andrew 'Sandy' Irvine who was the youngest member of the alpine expedition.)George and Sandy's narratives are told on the mountain and often slide into remembrance. Ruth's narrative, the main narrative, is told in the present, over the course of one day, that terrible day she received news her husband was presumed dead on Everest. The counterpoint between what has in fact occurred in the past, and what Ruth is waiting to learn in the present, creates subtle tension and an implacable sense of dire inevitability, especially for anyone who knows Mallory's tragic story. And Rideout does this with such utter ease there is no sense of dislocation or loss of the story arc.Her characterization of these legendary figures is real and immediate, very believable, so that you rage against the fates as you're swept along through her gorgeous and precise prose. That last paragraph, in particular, left me utterly shattered. It is written with such a stark and beautiful metaphor. And yes, you're going to have to go and read it yourself in order to experience the genius of this novel.Above All Things is absolutely a must-read.
    • 4/5
      a thrilling story, of love and adventure. Wonderful.
    • 4/5
      It is a novel based on the lives of George Mallory and his wife Ruth. It goes through the history of their relationship and marriage, but the main storyline takes place in 1924, when he makes his final attempt to climb Mount Everest. The story shifts back and forth between George on his trek and Ruth back home in England. It details his travel to Tibet and the effort to summit the mountain by him and the other Englishmen making the trek and their local guides and porters. Ruth story mostly takes place on one day in the summer of 1924, maybe the day he died but certainly close to that time. There is generous use of flashbacks to their courtship and early marriage, and other parts of George's life. The book also tells the story of Sandy Irvine, a young mountaineer traveling with George.Rideout takes some liberties with the known truth, which she explains in the book's Author's Note, and uses her imagination to fill in some of the story which no one can know for sure.I enjoyed the book. The story is one that I am interested in, and now I am motivated to read some non-fiction about Mallory and early Everest attempts. There is a lot of detail about mountain climbing on Everest, kind of technical but interesting to me. Maybe not for everyone though, but you can skim past those parts if needed. The books you a real feel of what it must have been like to be on the mountain in the 1920's with the then current state of the art climbing equipment. Together with Into This Air, it has eliminated and thought that I have had of climbing Everest or any other similar mountain.
    • 4/5

      I enjoyed this book about George Mallory's ill-fated final attempt to scale Everest, particularly the scenes towards the end describing his last desperate push towards the summit. The scenes written from the perspective of his long-suffering wife Ruth, left in Cambridge to anxiously await his return, were less successful for me at first. It's hard not to feel a bit bored when you were reading about an exciting mountaineering expedition and suddenly find yourself sitting on the floor of George's study with Ruth, listlessly sorting through papers and worrying about why the servants don't seem to like you. But I did feel that Ruth became a more sympathetic character as the book went on, and by the end I was fully invested in her story as well as George's.

      I really appreciated that Rideout has an Author's Note in which she describes some of the liberties she took with history (which includes at least one pretty big alteration). I was disappointed, though, that when she says you can visit her website for "a further discussion of fact versus fiction", she doesn't mean that she goes into further detail about her approach to Mallory's story. Instead there's a short general essay on her website about the role of fact versus fiction in historical novels. Not really what I wanted!
    • 4/5
      I really liked this book. I loved the way she took history and spun a somewhat fictional novel around it. It was like hearing a story told through generations for 100 years. It kept me interested and in suspense, as to whether or not they made it and what would happen when he came home. I really liked this book and would recommend reading it.
    • 2/5
      Okay, so I will admit right off the bat that Tanis Rideout's "Above All Things" isn't in my typical genre. I'll acknowledge that it was probably an uphill battle from the start in terms of my liking it. I ultimately decided to pick up the book when a friend recommended it, knowing of my obsession with mountaineering literature.That was probably part of this book's undoing for me. I've read a ton of stories about Everest expeditions and plenty about Mallory and Irvine. Rideout's characterization of them doesn't match mine (& I'm sure she did plenty of research so I'm not saying my thoughts are more valid than hers.) George Mallory came across so thoroughly unlikeable in this book, I couldn't help but wonder why anyone would climb with him, let alone marry him.I was also put off by the novel's opening scene, which was just so contrived... I nearly stopped reading right there. Rideout certainly writes well and probably, I would have liked this novel more if it weren't about Everest.
    • 5/5
      This is a terrific, compelling debut novel which tells the story of George Mallory's obsessive desire to be the first man to summit Mount Everest. For those readers who were blown away by Jon Krakauer's nonfiction book Into Thin Air, Rideout's novel is the very next book you should read. It goes back to the 1920's when Great Britain wanted to claim the victory of having the first man to reach the top of Mount Everest. Many British climbers desired that as well, but George Mallory seemed to want to make this conquest more than anyone else and despite all odds.This story is told in alternate chapters between the team who are mounting the conquest of the summit and George's family and friends who await his return. Based on years of research, this novel does take some literary variances but none in any way which would interfere with the believability or enjoyment of the story.Take a chance on this novel. It will leave you breathless...literally!
    • 2/5
      Some time ego, I’ve seen a documentary about a British businessman who had enough money to hire a personal guide to Mount Everest. He died not far from the summit after he had reached it. His guide was not resolute enough to call the attempt hopeless and force his client to return while there was still time. The guide survived but lost parts of his limbs to frostbite. If we could ask the businessman would he say that reaching the summit was worth his life?
      This book Above is about George Mallory’s attempt to be the first at the same summit. He died on the mountain, most likely before reaching the summit, on a relatively good weather day that would give him an opportunity to call the attempt hopeless in time. He didn’t quit and led himself and his climbing partner to the certain death. How much will and ego are needed to do such a thing? Is achieving fame worth the risk of death? Do you need to reach the summit, any summit, to prove something? Isn’t the joy of travelling there enough? Are such extreme endeavors worth endangering other people?
    • 5/5
      Excellent, excellent book...I wasn’t sure I knew enough - or cared enough - about mountain climbing to be able to enjoy this story, but I was counting on the adventure to sweep me away. It did just that with a bonus. This is not a dry, technical account of man vs mountain. Rather, it is an impassioned journey into the psyches of a man who must conquer the impossible whatever the cost, and a woman who must support her husband’s love affair with a killer mountain to have any piece of him to call her own. This story is about George Mallory, early 1900s Everest adventurer, and his wife Ruth who unwillingly bore the cost of self sacrifice and deep loving. Both voices are strong and compelling.Beautifully written, this historical novel does take some license with the facts. In my opinion, this does not impair the flow or intent of the historical event. In fact, as Tanis Rideout explains in her author’s notes at the back of the book, the deviations from reality are meant to be symbolic, relevant, and ease the technical aspects. It is a powerful account of a time when mountaineering was an adventure for fame and country. The descriptions are astonishing, heart breaking, tender, and painful.“George collapsed in the snow, turned his back to the weight of the wind, and lowered his head into the hollow space between his legs and chest, searching for a still spot to breathe in. His body thrummed with exhaustion.They’d establish their last camp here, then tomorrow he and Teddy would push for the summit. George searched for the towering peak of it but couldn’t see it for the snow that was screaming sky-ward off the ridge above them, a curling wall of it, like the blown silk of Ruth’s wedding gown. He stared, hoping for a glimpse, until Teddy knocked him on the arm, held out his ice axe to him, and pointed with gloved hands at the snow.They had to get the tent up. Quickly. This high up the temperature plummeted to unbearable lows with the sun. The altitude, the lack of oxygen, amplified the cold. He bent over the tight, dry snow, swung his axe into it. One knock per breath.”The tension builds while you are reading until your muscles are aching and your breath is quickened. You strain for the summit of Everest with George while your heart is breaking for Ruth. Alternating between their personal and moving inner struggles pulls you forward; sometimes in frustration, and other times like a roller coaster ride.Highly recommended.
    • 5/5
      I just wish I had read the Author Notes at the back before starting this book---what an incredible amount of research Rideout had to do to develop such a realistic impression of the emotions and physical nature of the early attempts to climb Mount Everest. Almost exhausting to read in many ways---the cold comes right through the pages! Alternating between Ruth and George's experiences as the climb progressed up the mountain gave helpful breaks in this very exhausting tale. The fact that this really was a factually based historical event, though a fictional account, made it all the more fascinating.
    • 3/5
      I thought that the premise for this book was so promising and I could not wait to read it! However, the plot moved *so* slowly, and I gave up about halfway through. Once George got onto the actual mountain, it seemed like not only was the entire mountain party suffering from foggy-headeadness from lack of oxygen, but so was the author. Everything moved so slowly and was so vague. Utterly disappointed.
    • 2/5
      This was an early reviewer book that took me months to read. I thought the premise was good. The chapters about George Mallory and the actual climb were sometimes very exciting, and other times, boring. The alternate chapters about Ruth and her life in Cambridge were pretty boring as well. I think with some different editing this might have been a good book. It needed to be much shorter to keep up the level of dramatic interest. George Mallory was a fascinating person and I wanted more about him.
    • 5/5
      This was a hard book for me to rate. On the one hand, I thought it was very well done and a page-turner that I couldn’t wait to get back to. On the other hand, while I was reading it, I had a major problem with it being a fictionalized account of a real life event--George Mallory’s third and fatal attempt to reach the summit of Everest in 1924. But it’s been over a month since I finished it now and I’ve calmed down about my frustrations with what was real and what wasn’t and appreciate the book more for what it was intended to be, which is a fictional work inspired by historical events.The book has an interesting structure. It alternates between Ruth Mallory’s first person narrative of a long day early in June 1924 as she waits for the latest word from, or about, her husband and whether he’s been successful in summiting Everest, and the third person account of the months long British Mount Everest Expedition of 1924. Surprisingly, Ruth’s thoughts and reflections while she does what she’s become good at--waiting--were sometimes more interesting to me than the life threatening activities of her husband and his climbing partners. The saddest aspect of the book was that it was the story of a love triangle between Ruth, George, and Everest, and as Ruth says, “It’s humiliating to come second to a mountain.” Of the ten years that Ruth and George were married, George was away for approximately four of them. First because of his service in WWI and then because of his three expeditions to Everest. Left behind for long stretches of time, Ruth tries to come to terms with why George always chooses the mountain over her and their three young children. I’m not a risk-taker so I’ll probably never understand why someone would want to climb a 29,000 foot mountain that makes them physically ill, mentally deranged, and likely to die, but I did love reading about the challenges that the climbers faced from the comfort of my recliner. I was particularly struck by their reluctance to use oxygen, which they had for the 1924 climb, because above 26,000 feet (the “death zone”) there’s not enough oxygen to sustain life for long. But on the author’s website, she explains that “the use of oxygen was thought to be unsporting in the 1920s, the equivalent of using steroids in sports today.”My feelings about George were mixed. Most of the time, I thought he was incredibly selfish to be away from his family so much but there were also enough instances of his love for Ruth and his understanding of what his absences meant to her that I developed some sympathy for him. The book puts forth some ideas as to why he was so compelled to tackle Everest (besides “because it’s there”). He’s portrayed as wanting to prove something to his father and to honor his brother, good friend and country for losses suffered in WWI. In the last analysis though, I think you either get this kind of risk taking and obsession or you don’t.My big regret with this book was not reading the author’s note at the end before I started. I mistakenly thought it followed real life events very closely and so I was upset when I googled things as I was reading only to discover differences between the book and real life. My advice would be to just read this as a novel and to think of Ruth and George as characters rather than real people. Tanis Rideout’s website contains this quote which I wish she had placed at the beginning of the book: "I have taken the historical personage of George Mallory and his friends, family and fellow explorers and used them as a jumping off point. All the research, all the desire to have facts at the tips of my fingers is in an attempt to create a world coloured and detailed and rich that the reader can immerse themselves in. No doubt, some who are familiar with the Mallory story will notice inaccuracies, changes and fictions. I hope, that even for those, these distractions will not prove too grave and that the emotional experience that the story delivers will be worth it."In the last analysis, the emotional experience was worth it and I would highly recommend the book.
    • 4/5
      “Above All Things” is about George Mallory, a mountain climber who is in the midst of his third attempt to climb Mount Everest, and his wife, Ruth. She must stay home, raise the children and convey solidarity to her nation reeling from the First World War. In truth, Ruth doesn’t care about the hopes of Great Britain because she suffers and longs for George. Each chapter alternates between the perspectives of George and a fellow climber through the entirety of their expedition and a single day of Ruth’s, which signifies how much goes on in George’s life while Ruth must endure the slow passage of time without her husband. The cover of the book is exquisite, and the overall tone of the novel will linger long after finishing it.
    • 4/5
      Mount Everest is something that almost seems mythical to one like me who is so far away and far removed from it. Yet it’s something we’ve all heard about, possibly thought about in some way or another. For me, it’s always been one of those things that I’ve thought “It’s sooooo far away, and so very high!” And that’s really as far as I’ve ever gotten. Because I have to be honest with myself, I’m no mountain climber and I don’t think I ever will be. I live in a state where people pride themselves on climbing 14ers (mountains at or above 14,000 feet high), which they will devote a day to, and that in itself sounds like a bit too much mountain for me.This book gives you a bit of that kind of perspective in the form of Ruth Mallory, wife to the British explorer George Mallory. Ruth fell in love with someone who is in love with the mountain, and even though Everest is not her passion, she has to deal with it on a regular basis. George, on the other hand, is kind of obsessed with the idea of reaching the summit. We enter the story in 1920, close to the beginning of their courtship, and go from there to the day that George takes off in 1924 for his final trip to Everest. The trip he assures Ruth will be his last, his one final attempt to conquer the mountain.After that, the chapters alternate from Ruth’s perspective at home, her one last normal day, and that of the mountaineers. We get periodic glimpses into this one day in Ruth’s life, the one we as the audience know is the day before her life is irrevocably changed. I felt as though I was experiencing the day with her, going through the motions of acknowledging people who are so proud of her husband, a man they have never met. Trying to put on the good face when, in reality, she would have had to be terrified at some level. It’s the sort of thing that I realized you simply cannot imagine – actually losing the person you love to the one thing they can’t give up. As the reader, along with Ruth, we know that what George is doing is very dangerous, but I wanted for things to go perfectly the entire time.While Ruth’s chapters are really just the monotony of life, the mountain chapters are a sheer survival story practically from moment to moment. These men have a relatively short amount of time in which they can make their summit attempts, and it has to be done in phases. It’s something I hadn’t ever thought about – how much effort it would take to reach the top of a mountain at 29,029 feet. The group must make a decent amount of progress every day, setting up new camps, each higher than the last, and making sure each camp is stocked with all the necessities for the next time they need it. Although the story tells a bit of several of the men on the mountain, it focuses mainly on George Mallory and Andrew “Sandy” Irvine, the two ill-fated mountaineers who make that last ditch effort to get up there.Prior to reading this novel, I didn’t know a whole lot about this particular expedition to Everest. In general, I knew people had tried to climb it, and many had died along the way, but I didn’t know the personal history of George himself. I decided to do a bit of Wikipedia research as I was reading the story, it’s one of my historical fiction flaws – if the story is based on a real person, I almost always look them up. Part of this is because I want to know what happens out of total curiosity, and another part of it is wanting to be prepared in the event that the story takes a sad turn.Anyone who knows this bit of history knows it didn’t go George’s way. I don’t consider this to be a spoiler for the book because we, as the audience, generally already know the end result. And because I read about how it was going to go, there were times when I very seriously considered putting this book down. Not because of the writing, because that is truly beautiful. I genuinely felt like I was on that bloody mountain, to the point that I was having physical symptoms of it. I was freezing reading much of this book, I felt like I was going to vomit, there were some parts where I felt like I was going to choke from lack of oxygen. This is truly great writing.I considered putting it down because this is really tough subject matter, plain and simple. It’s a bit like reading a novel about Anne Boleyn – you know it’s going to end with her death, yet you hope somehow that it doesn’t. This is a fictional account of that last day or so in the lives of George and Sandy, so part of me really hoped maybe, somehow, it would defy history. And of course, that’s not how it works. Once I had accepted that, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to read about their potential end, yet I had to keep going. In a way, you could say reading to the end of this book was a kind of Everest for me – I felt compelled to keep going even though I didn’t know if it was going to be my best plan.I’ve seen some people who didn’t love Ruth’s chapters, simply because they don’t compare to the excitement of the mountain climbing. To an extent, I find myself on the opposite side. If I were in Ruth’s position, I would be yearning for a normal life, all the while knowing it would never be that way. She’s in such a difficult position, trying to raise her children, telling them day in and day out that their dad is fine – and then hiding the way she feels from everyone, the anxiety of not knowing whether or not her husband will come home. Can you even imagine it, back in those days before the internet, just waiting for weeks for a letter or telegram, not knowing every single day if your husband is going to come home?On the whole, I enjoyed this book, but I don’t really know what else to think about it. This book terrified me and made me infinitely glad that I am content to rest my feet on a relatively stable surface. The simple descriptions of slipping a bit on a mountain that size gave me anxiety I can’t even fully describe. I laughed, cried, and even thought that part of me could be stuck on that mountain now, up there with George Mallory, never fully coming home.
    • 4/5
      I had read a lot about the man credited as the first to climb Mt. Everest, Edmund Hillary. but Ms. Rideout has chosen to feature a lesser known climber and has wife. That climber was George Mallory. The book is told from two perspectives - his on the expedition and - hers back home waiting word. A goodly percentage and the narrative is flashbacks and oxygen deprived imaginings of Mr. Mallory on the mountain. Although the book has a couple short slow spots with a tad too much climbing detail, the overall story is captivating and well worth reading. Ms. Rideout is a great new voice in fiction.
    • 5/5
      I devoured this book. At first I thought I wasn't going to like the alternating chapters: first the male adventure part, then the female doing her domestic thing - but that turned out to be the real power of the book.I'm an extreme-adventure book addict - I've read Endurance, South, Into Thin Air, and many many more. Rideout's writing in this genre is outstanding - the Everest chapters zoomed along. They were spellbinding, yet minutely detailed - and then the contrast with Mallory's wife's life back in England brought me, literally, back to earth, into what it must have been like for her.Loved it.
    • 5/5
      I loved this book. I love reading anything about mountain climbing even though it is the last thing on earth I would ever want to do. The alternating story of that one day in the life of Mallory's wife and the weeks of what Mallory was enduring on the other side of the world just added to the tension of the story as it unfolded. After I read the book, I also found myself googling George Mallory to see photos of the expedition and pouring over Rideout's website for the book where there was a huge wealth of info/photos/maps/trivia. When a book has me doing more research after or during the fact, I always figure it has done it's job. Above All Things was well written, engaging and kept this reader on the edge of her seat despite the fact that , basically, I knew the ending.
    • 5/5
      I knew about Mallory’s 1924 attempt to scale Mount Everest and so when a fictional account of the expedition came along, I could not pass it up and I am glad I did not. Whether one is familiar with Mallory’s unfortunate attempt to climb Mount Everest or not, I do believe any reader will be pulled into this exceptionally written, heart-rendering book. Above All Things by Tanis Rideout takes the reader back to 1924 as George Mallory sets out to climb Mount Everest, while leaving his wife Ruth behind. Written in the form of alternating narratives, the story is rather exceptional and whether one is interested in mountain climbing or not (I am not), the story is one that will capture one’s heart. Rideout did an extraordinary job researching the material and recreating scenes and characters, yes some liberties were taken, which are explained, however this is historical fiction, and those liberties do not distract between this beautiful and yet harrowing story. I recommend Above All Things to all readers and discussion groups; the book has too much promise to pass on.
    • 5/5
      This was a beautifully written book. It takes place in the early 1920s and tells the story of George and Ruth Mallory. George Mallory is the famous British explorer who made 3 attempts to the summit of Mt. Everest.One of my favorite things about this book, was that each chapter goes back and forth from the point of view of Ruth and then George.The descriptions and details of the hardships that George and his team endured on Everest is unbelievable. These are the early explorers who set out to conquer the harshest climate in their Burberry gear, while smoking cigarettes at Base camp and listening to music on a Victrola that they brought with them from England and had porters lug up the snow ridden slopes of the mountain. Fascinating stuff!Then we feel Ruth's pain at being left behind once again with three small children for George's third attempt at the mountain. She tries to understand his obsession but wonders why they are not enough to convince him to want to stay, that they will never be enough for him.This is truly a heartbreaking story, but also one full of adventure and sacrifice. It's also a love story. What a wonderful, satisfying, gripping book. Didn't want to put this one down. Highly recommended! I received this book as part of the Librarything Early Reviewers.
    • 5/5
      Above All Things is an excruciatingly difficult book for the reader who knows that Mallory and Irvine did not survive their attempt on Everest. Rideout's descriptions of the effects of cold and oxygen deprivation on the human body carry conviction. I forced myself to suffer with the members of the expedition, whom I came to care about, and to wait with Mallory's wife at home.Rideout's writing is smooth and accomplished. Her decision to follow Mallory from beginning to end with insertions of a day in Ruth's life is effective. Time has stopped for Ruth. She can't sleep; she acts the part of mother for her children, but she is simply marking time until she hears from her husband. Mallory, on the other hand, is completely alive as he and his comrades assault the mountain, fail, question, regroup, and try again. Memories haunt George, Ruth, and Sandy Irvine, and add depth to their characters.If I have a quibble, and I always do, it is Rideout's decision to change some facts, including the time of George's brother's death. She explains her decision in an author's note, which left me with a bit of doubt about the rest of her research. I'm sorry for that because otherwise, this was an outstanding novel.
    • 5/5
      When I saw the description for this book, my curiosity was immediately piqued. Having recently read The Paris Wife, I couldn't help but be intrigued by another re imagining of another famous adventurer and larger than life personality--George Mallory. Rideout's debut novel detailing Hillary's third attempt at Mount Everest was an engaging and satisfying read: once I became involved in the story, I didn't want to put it down! Rideout crafts a novel of contrasts transporting the reader between the adventures of George on the mountain and a day in the life of his wife, Ruth, who anxiously waits for his return. Interposed between these two very different scenes are memories, emotions, regrets, and disappointments--a wellspring of human emotion that makes the characters so very believeable.One of my favorite aspects of Rideout's style is her ability to create the inner thoughts of the characters in less stream of consciousness style but more organized wanderings--her prose seamlessly weaving the characters' thoughts in the moment with the memories of the past and recreating, even more vividly, the confusion and mental struggle of the men as they climb into the higher altitudes. As the novel reached its climax, I felt as though I could almost feel the cold mountain air and muddle through oxygen starved thoughts. This is an author whose subsequent work I will eagerly await.
    • 4/5
      The story started a bit slow, but then sped up to a thrilling pace. I was not familiar with the precise details of the climbs and I thought the author did a great job of making readers understanding the depths of despair, pain, and anguish the climbers must have felt. I can't say I felt quite as much interest in the second storyline which focused on the wife left behind. But part of the problem was that George's story lasted months and Ruth's mostly covered a day. But other than that, I really liked the bookend recommend it!
    • 4/5
      Tanis Rideout did an outstanding job for her debut novel! I was not familiar with the story of George Mallory so part of the way into the book I was clueless as to the ending. I did some research and was not disappointed to know the ending. Tandis's descriptions put the reader right there on the mountain experiencing the pain and difficulty with the climbers as well as experiencing the true conflicted feeling of a wife who respects her husband's obsession but also wants him to choose her first. I was surprised to read on reviewer who did not find the descriptions realistic, at one point I was trying to breathe for them! As far as publishing goes, I much prefer the cover with the climbers and the woman's torso on the cover over the couple on the beach. I wouldn't look at that one on a shelf. Also I was impressed with the feel of the cover and the deckled edges on the pages for my uncorrected proof copy. I hope this is how it comes out in the stores. Over all I loved this book and story.