The Wager and the Bear
By John Ironmonger

The Wager and the Bear is palpable and a novel of our times where the climate is concerned. It’s written so beautifully and urgently that it would be hard to ignore and hard not to be swept up in its flow to lush scenery, love and topical climate events. Find out more in the blurb and my full review below. Thanks to Fly on the Press, an independent publisher, for sending me a copy to review from…

Blurb

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.

A heart-stopping tale of anger, tragedy, and enduring love, cast against the long unfolding backdrop of climate catastrophe.

Review

Set in St. Piran, Cornwall, the book begins, the style of writing has a feel of someone sitting in a pub with you as they recount what happened. It eases you into the book in an unexpected way. It’s just as well for all that’s to come next…

Tom Horsmith and his fellow companions meet in bar. He has quite a dramatic backstory, but it doesn’t linger on this. It gives enough to understand certain past circumstances.
There’s a climate denier in the mix. The anger and rage is palpable. Monty Causley, may well make your teeth grind together with sheer frustration. If he were in front of you, you know you’d have a lot to say too. For a character you’re not supposed to like, he’s written well. 
Not far in, the story moves 2 years onwards after the wager with a sobering conversation between Lykke Nogaard and Tom and romance is in the air…
It’s interesting when Tom and Monty meet again 10 years after the wager with not just the circumstances the MP finds himself in, but also the exchanges in conversation between them both. Some of which is surprising and also funny, in a typical politician kind of way, before a bit of honesty creeps in, whilst they’re in Greenland. A timely place, given what is going on in the world. with a certain politician wanting his hands on it, (infuriating us who lived in the 90’s and were well taught about the importance of Greenland being left well alone, but also what might happen, which we are seeing now).
The book then moves onto 25 years from the wager to show the ice that is cracking and melting.
80 years on from the wager, there’s something beautiful, something heart-warming to hold onto…

The author manages to flip from anger to a softer air with a succinctness that carries you, the reader, onwards with the story being told.

The Wager and the Bear is a novel that may well cause you to feel so many emotions, including the same anger towards a fictional person as it will certain people in public life. 

After the story, the author notes what inspired him to write The Bear and the Wager, stating it is a novel, but also showing what certain politicians and notable people have said about the climate as well as some other facts. That part is also an interesting read as it cements the fictional events and people in the story with what is happening in the world today, a bit like aiding readers to join the dots as it were, if they haven’t already.