Mawson

W John Hackwell

A Novel of Antarctica

Australian artist Graeme Morris boards a brutal German icebreaker bound for Antarctica, expecting a prestigious commission. Instead, he finds himself trapped on a voyage where every smile feels calculated, every silence feels loaded, and the frozen continent ahead hides a truth no one wants exposed.

As the ship battles savage seas and dark rumours spread about an unfolding disaster at Mawson Research Station, Morris starts to realise he may be the only one paying attention.

But he is far from an innocent observer. Locked into a rigid, mechanical existence by a severe congenital palsy, Morris is a ghost—living under a manufactured identity to escape a childhood trauma. He has built a steel wall between himself and the world to survive.

Then, a sudden family crisis back home and a cloud of blame for a murder at the base threaten to tear off his mask. Trapped between a deadly landscape and a growing sense that his past is catching up to him, Morris must uncover the truth before the ice closes over it forever.

 

 

About the Author

W John Hackwell lives in Tamworth, New South Wales, with his partner Yvonne, sharing a life built on family, friendship, and simple joys—vegetarian cooking, long rides, lazy laps in the pool, and a garden that keeps him humble. He’s proud of four children who forged their own paths, and of Yvonne earning her nursing degree at fifty. From Antarctica to remote desert communities and seasons in France, John’s richest memories remain the people who shaped him—and the stories they left behind.