The Voyage of the `Narwhal', by Andrea Barrett (Flamingo, £6.99 in UK)

It would be misleading to say that this novel follows in the mighty wake of Moby Dick, but superficially it sails for much of its voyage in similar seas. An expedition sets sail from Massachusetts in the mid-19th century to find out what had happened to Sir John Franklin and his Polar expedition, which had vanished into the snows. Much of the story, in spite of its psychological trappings, is a fairly traditional one of Arctic exploration, with hardship, comradeship, and internecine tensions constant. The Esquimaux and their hard lot come into it too, and so does the habit of explorers in every age of taking credit not all of which is deserved, and of becoming what we should now call media heroes. Sound narrative sense and a genuine feeling for the period atone for some fairly flat dialogue and engineered emotional situations.