Robert MacFarlane Author of Mountains of the Mind
‘[Ruth] is in the shadow when she should share the light. She lost [George] towards death four times; once to war and three times to the mountain. To know only George’s side of things, to see only through his eyes and those of the men who accompanied him, is to see an incomplete Everest, a partial myth, and to further confirm the heroic-tragic male mountaineering/exploration paradigm.’
Wade Davis
Author of Into The Silence
‘The key to George Mallory is his beloved wife Ruth, and yet until now Ruth has remained a great mystery. Kate Nicholson’s biography is both vital and long overdue ...’
Author of Wildest Dream
‘You have unearthed some wonderful, compelling material. I was deeply impressed with all you have found out and you have brought life and meaning to a powerful and important character ...’
‘a photograph of George Mallory naked in the Himalayan foothills with his rucksack on his back – I do not think one could ever tire of these images.’
‘Enthralling biography’
'Other biographies have described Ruth before, but none have placed her
front and centre, as Nicholson does. She portrays Ruth with insight and
understanding, as well as locating her in the context of the times, from the arts
and political movements she espoused to the impact of the First World War.
Even in such a crowded biographical space, Nicholson has disinterred
new documents and photographs, and has conducted the first interviews
with descendants of key figures from Ruth’s life. Nicholson says she has
used ‘narrative non-fiction techniques’ to immerse the reader in Ruth’s life
and they work to great effect. The book has a radical structure, moving be-
tween historical scenes and the present day, as Nicholson relates how she
placed herself in Ruth’s position, escorting the reader around her homes,
learning to climb so that she can follow Ruth’s routes. The outcome is an
absorbing mix of research and imagination, a meta exercise in double em-
pathy: we feel what Nicholson feels and from that extrapolate to Ruth’s
feelings too.’
Alpine Journal 2024 review by Peter Gillman, Co author of 'Wildest Dream’.
“... the ground-breaking Everest book that explores what it is like to stay behind, for a very able partner, in a different age to ours. Kate Nicholson’s ‘Behind Everest’ tells the story of Ruth Turner, ahem, Mallory, (as in the wife of George) through many previously unseen letters. The judges applaud Nicholson for achieving the virtually impossible feat of taking the drowned-out voice of this woman (amidst the bluster of male voices), and making it seem strangely modern.”
Boardman Tasker, Mountain Literature Award Shortlist 2024, Paul Pritchard