Those who are wondering, gosh, these book reviews are getting a little sporadic, and thinking, has she not read a book since July? are perilously close to guessing the truth. While I was on the road in the summer, falling into bed and collapsing into a comatose sleep was all I could manage at the end of most days. However, as I sat in various airport departure lounges, I did manage to read a book called Two in the Far North by Margaret Murie.

Margaret (usually called Mardy) Murie lived from the age of nine in Fairbanks, Alaska. There she met and married the wildlife biologist Olaus Murie, and with him she travelled extensively through the far north of Alaska. The couple became passionate campaigners for wildlife conservation, and are credited with persuading the US authorities to create the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (which, in recent years, has been the source of much controversy as the oil companies press for permission to drill on its coastal plain).

Two in the Far North is a charming book. It's not a difficult read; on the contrary, it's a personal rather than a scientific account of the couple's wilderness journeys. Clearly, Olaus and Mardy's love for each other was deep and enduring, and this warms every page. But also, the reader can't help but observe that Mardy was one tough lady.

Take the story of her dogsledding journey with her husband through the Alaska backcountry just a few months after they married. For several days Mardy, aged 22, ran at the back of the sled, trying to keep it upright over rough trail as her husband attempted to control it and the dogs from further forward. Then there's the trip they made just after their first child was born: determined not to be left behind, Mardy brought the newborn with them.

In all, it's a greatly evocative book on the far north, and it left me filled with admiration for this adventurous and determined woman who, after her husband's death, took over his work and campaigned for decades on conservation issues.