How the Penguins Saved Veronica

In Ayrshire, Scotland, in the year 2012, wealthy 85-year-old Veronica McCreedy lives in isolation on her estate called Ballahays. She is a divorcée with no known relatives and is tended to by a housekeeper named Eileen. Veronica is morose and has few interests in life but enjoys watching nature programs on television. One evening, she stumbles across a show hosted by the debonair Robert Saddlebow. It is entitled The Plight of Penguins, and Veronica finds herself intrigued by the endangered creatures. After the program ends, Veronica considers opening a locked box of mementos that Eileen unearthed in the storage room.

The following day, Veronica walks out on the beach and collects trash as she goes. She feels an obligation to leave the world better than she found it. Back at home, she finally braces herself to open the little memento box. Inside, she finds a locket engraved with the letter “V.” Inside are strands of hair from four people. The sight of the keepsakes makes Veronica sad, so she closes the locket. Also inside the box are two diaries that she wrote when she was 15. Despite her better judgment, she spends the evening reading all the entries.

The following morning, Veronica contemplates her younger self: “For so many years I have denied access to those memories. Now, as if to make up for lost time, they’ve burst the floodgates of my mental fortress and will not leave me alone” (12). Veronica asks Eileen to search the internet for a reputable agency to trace long-lost relatives. That evening, Veronica watches the penguin program and learns about the emperor penguin species. She becomes even more intrigued by the creatures. A plan begins to form in her mind. She wants to make her life count for something worthwhile.

The narrative now shifts to 27-year-old Patrick, who lives in Bolton, England. He’s down on his luck since his girlfriend Lynette recently left him for a muscular fellow in the building trade. Patrick himself works part-time repairing bicycles in a shop owned by his friend Gavin. Gav is too softhearted to fire Patrick, even though he is a slacker, because he is a genius at repairing broken machines of all sorts. A month down the road, Patrick gets evicted from his apartment and moves into a cramped bedsit. He bums some marijuana plants from a former girlfriend and starts to grow them so he will have a supply of his own on hand. One day, Patrick finds a letter waiting for him. It is written by an old woman named Veronica, who claims that he is her grandson. She wishes to meet him. 

Patrick is befuddled by the news. His father abandoned the family shortly after he was born, and Patrick’s mother is dead. He has no idea who Veronica is. Once curiosity gets the better of him, Patrick writes back, “OK. When do you want to meet? I’m free next week. Any day but Monday” (26). Patrick starts to fantasize about a sweet old lady showing up on his doorstep with a cake for him. “I’ll confide in her about Lynette. And she’ll be all sweet and sympathetic and grandmotherly. Sorted. Granny’s going to totally adore me” (27).

In anticipation of Veronica’s visit, Patrick starts to rally. He goes out to buy healthy food for himself and the ingredients for a lemon polenta cake. No sooner does he return home than he has a voice mail from Veronica announcing that she will arrive in less than an hour. Patrick doesn’t even have time to change into clean clothes when she rings his doorbell. Veronica isn’t impressed when she sees where and how Patrick lives. He reacts with surliness, knowing she is silently judging his disheveled appearance.

The narrative shifts to Veronica’s point of view as she assesses her long-lost grandson. “How is it possible that this disgraceful, smeary, drug-befuddled creature could be my own grandson?” (34). As they speak, the story of Veronica’s past comes out. She had a baby out of wedlock when she was very young. The baby was adopted by a Canadian family, but Veronica was able to keep tabs on his progress. Her son was an extreme sports enthusiast and died in 1987 while mountain climbing in the Rockies. Apparently, he had gone back to England a few years earlier and gotten involved with Patrick’s mother, unbeknownst to Veronica.

Patrick asks about Veronica’s life. She lets it slip that she is wealthy and living in Scotland and immediately regrets the disclosure. She suspects that Patrick will want to inherit her fortune. Their conversation starts to flag, and Veronica leaves soon afterward.

Back in Scotland, Veronica returns to her regular routine of walking by the shore and watching penguin programs on television. The series has moved to a colony of Adélie penguins in the South Shetland Islands. Scientists are trying to learn why their numbers are dwindling at such an alarming rate. Robert Saddlebow interviews a scientist named Dietrich, who speaks movingly of the need for more equipment and staff to research the problem. He is stationed on Locket Island. Thinking of her own keepsake locket, Veronica takes this to be a sign from the universe meant for her.

After she retires to bed, she receives a late phone call from Patrick. He remembered that her birthday was on June 21st and called belatedly to wish her happy birthday. The conversation is just as awkward as their first encounter, but Patrick asks for another chance to get to know Veronica. She grudgingly agrees. After they hang up, Veronica is still suspicious that Patrick is after her fortune. She has made up her mind that the money will go to the penguins instead.

The story now shifts to Patrick. After he gets off the phone with Veronica, he meets Gav at the local pub and announces that his long-lost grandmother has found him. Gav advises that Patrick should cherish this relationship because older people are full of wonderful stories. Gav’s own mother died recently, and he is still mourning. Patrick is skeptical that he will ever bond with Veronica.

As the days pass, Patrick takes a stab at cleaning the apartment and laundering his clothes. He thinks back to the five foster families he lived with as a child. His own mother died by suicide when he was only six. Now that Lynette is gone, Patrick is having trouble figuring out what he should do next. “I feel like a beer bottle once all the beer’s been drunk. Not needed. Worthless. Empty” (56).

By July, Veronica is hatching a plan. Reading her old diaries has stirred her to regain the spark she once had. “I need to find an alternative; a mission, something that inspires me” (59). She has booked a voyage to the South Shetland Islands and asks Eileen to communicate with the staff at Locket Island via email on her behalf. Veronica writes that she is impressed by the work being done to save the penguins. She would like to inspect the operation. If it meets with her approval, she is prepared to bequeath seven million pounds to the research team. They may expect her arrival for a three-week stay.

A flurry of emails follows, with both Eileen and Dietrich trying to persuade the elderly Veronica that there are no accommodations for her on the island. They think the journey might be too arduous as well. However, Veronica holds her ground. Next, Eileen and Dietrich try emailing Patrick but never receive a response.

In November, Patrick picks up the narrative and explains that he has received a few emails from an address related to penguins. He assumes these are spam or a computer virus and deletes the messages unread. Finally, he receives a phone call from Eileen begging him to stop Veronica from making the trip to Antarctica. Patrick is amused by Veronica’s tenacity and tries to calm Eileen down.

In December, Veronica is at the Glasgow airport with Eileen, waiting for her flight, when Patrick arrives to wish her bon voyage. Their conversation is a little less stilted than before but still awkward. “I survey him. I perceive in his eyes an honest desire to please. Perhaps I have been a little hasty in my judgment” (75). After bidding farewell to Eileen and Patrick, Veronica boards the plane. After several flights and a boat ride, she arrives on Locket Island.

Veronica is met there by two of the scientists—Dietrich and a woman in her twenties named Terry, who posts a penguin blog that Veronica has been reading. The scientists offer to show Veronica the spartan living conditions in their field center. She isn’t put off by the rough quarters and insists that she will stay the full three weeks. Terry takes her out to view the penguins, which aren’t at all afraid of humans. At first, Veronica is put off by the amount of guano and the stench of fish, but she realizes that the creatures are fascinating and vital instead of sanitized picture postcards. “Here they are, bold and bright, getting on with life in a big, bustling community. Messy, noisy, reckless, pulsing with life and energy” (87).