George Almond’s new book is Even Higher than Everest, which is a fictionalized biography of the 1933 Houston-Everest flight expedition. The real-life event forming the crux of the story is beautiful in its own right, one of the aircraft piloted by the famed Scottish nobleman Air Commodore Douglas Douglas-Hamilton, 14th Duke of Hamilton and 11th Duke of Brandon. It was the first flight commenced over Everest, spearheaded by notable British philanthropist and suffragist Dame Fanny Lucy Houston, Lady Houston.
Almond is able to simultaneously capture the history, in and of itself of great intrigue, with a genuinely emotional, evocative narrative. As a result, the reader is genuinely transported to a time that is not only singular, but surprisingly similar to our own. Any great piece of historical fiction is able to do this, finding a way to draw threads through time with ease. There’s never the sense of flintiness, or something being locked away in chronological obscurity, rather events and specifics indicative of a unique period of time still find a way to evoke and feel timeless in an era with internet connections, Google image searches, and Google Earth. Almond is able to do this effortlessly, letting the story unfold with a definitive beginning, middle, and end. Adding to the emotional heft of the read is a citation of Noel Odell, a support climber and proclaimed last man to see the cllmbers Mallory and Irvine alive. The statement was made on the eighth of June, in the year 1924.
AMAZON: https://www.amazon.com/Even-Higher-Than-Everest-Dramatised/dp/1782226249
“At 12.50, just after I had emerged from a state of jubilation at finding the first definite fossils on Everest, there was a sudden clearing of the atmosphere, and the entire summit ridge and final peak of Everest were unveiled,” Odell’s statement reads. “My eyes became fixed on one tiny black spot silhouetted on a small snow-crest beneath a rock-step in the ridge; the black spot moved. Another black spot became apparent and moved up the snow to join the other on the crest. The first then approached the great rock-step and shortly emerged at the top; the second did likewise. Then the whole fascinating vision vanished, enveloped in cloud once more.”
This story has deep, personal significance to Almond himself. As is stated in the author bio, “George Almond – This grandson of a Wyoming horse rancher enjoys revisiting history…He was inspired by a chance meeting with Lord Hunt and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay who made the first ascent of Everest in 1953. From them he heard how aerial photos taken by Lady Houston’s pilots had been studied during Hunt’s planning for the epic conquest. This work is the outcome of that meeting. In researching the story of the first flight in 1933, the author offers thanks and acknowledgment to the many sources including family members, mountaineers, engineers and pilots who have provided valuable input about the true events of the flight.
The flight expedition was successful because highly experienced men and women were involved. All had survived the horrendous years of the Great War and were by nature, confident, bold and determined in their various roles for the aerial challenge. With so many colourful characters involved in the expedition, it seemed logical to relate events from their different viewpoints while attempting to entertain readers as they follow their progress towards their objectives.”
Alexander Marias
