"Antarctica feels reborn in these pages—unshackled from the tired myths of heroism that have long defined her, resounding with once-silenced voices, and ready for a new era of myth- and meaning-making. Kryzwonos accomplishes all of that with writing so haunting, formidable, and transportive that it’s almost impossible to believe that this masterpiece of a book is her debut. This is a stunning book."
—Ed Yong, New York Times bestselling author of An Immense World

"In The Blue Hours, Stephanie Krzywonos goes to Antarctica seeking salvation. What she discovers is that there is no geographic cure, only a geographic shift. Antarctica is not just a place; it is a force, and it’s in relationship with her that Stephanie's life changes. Artfully woven and deftly constructed, The Blue Hours takes its rightful place on the shortlist of literary memoirs about Antarctica by women, and the even shorter list of works that reveal a queer, nonwhite, feminist perspective on the continent and its place in the human imaginary."
—Gretchen Legler, author of Woodsqueer and On the Ice

"Antarctica has always called to the ones who can hear her, and The Blue Hours perfectly captures the haunting allure of the frozen extremes. Krzywonos’s intimate and vulnerable memoir explores Antarctica’s past and present through the lens of her own journey to find peace within immense grief. Braiding natural history, philosophy, and science against the backdrop of the strangest community on earth, The Blue Hours brings to life the magic of a place most humans will never see."
—Tessa Hulls, Pulitzer Prize winning author/artist of Feeding Ghosts

"I started The Blue Hours with a deep curiosity about Antarctica—a part of the world few people get to see—and finished with profound new understandings of how we can heal in the face of unimaginable loss. Stephanie Krzywonos elegantly interweaves her experience working in our planet’s southernmost realm with meticulous research into Antarctica’s history and environmental vulnerability, all while reflecting on her journey through grief. The result is a memoir that is as moving as it eye-opening, and a debut that must not be missed."
—Allegra Hyde, author of Eleutheria and The Last Catastrophe

"A magnificent debut. I devoured every page of this gorgeously written, deeply researched, and riveting account of one woman's adventures in Antarctica, and the explorers who preceded her." 
—Melissa Febos, national bestselling author of Girlhood and The Dry Season

"The Blue Hours is that liminal space of dusk and dawn and contains all—beauty and brutality, intimacy and ultimacy as does Krzywonos’ ineffably meaningful memoir.  Once I started reading, I wanted to do nothing else. The Blue Hours is profound, exquisitely composed, a ritual of personal and planetary healing, and stirs the soul to realizations uniquely achievable through memoir. The work makes a case for the personhood and rights of humans, penguins, lichen, ice, Antarctica, land—all of whom are nature, as it opens a way to hear what nature is saying."
—Jane Caputi, author of Call Your "Mutha"

"A story of rupture and healing, The Blue Hours is a profound journey through personal and polar darkness into the light.  Krzywonos gives us a view of Antarctica and the people who survive on the ice that is both intimate and sweeping. Love suffuses every page."
—Bathsheba Demuth, author of Floating Coast

"Blue Hours is a marvelous book. Marvellous: causing wonder and awe. Here are paradoxes that reveal wisdom deeper than rational thought can reach: In the most desperate darkness, there is starlight. In the most brilliant day, there are terrifying shadows. In perhaps the most sterile place on the planet, there is an unbearable urgency for life—in polar explorers, improbable penguins, huskies frozen in mid-howl and, especially, in the author’s own heart, also howling like hurricane-force winds. I thought this was a truly wonderful book—lavishly researched, jaggedly honest, compelling, and beautiful."
—Kathleen Dean Moore, author of Wild Comfort