The Voyage of the Narwhal - by Andrea Barrett (Paperback)

About the Book

Delving into the history of Arctic exploration, this book follows the crew and commander of a ship searching for the open polar sea, as seen through the eyes of a scholar-naturalist. 16 steel engravings. Map.

Book Synopsis

Capturing a crucial moment in the history of exploration--the mid-nineteenth century romance with the Arctic--Andrea Barrett's compelling novel tells the story of a fateful expedition. Through the eyes of the ship's scholar-naturalist, Erasmus Darwin Wells, we encounter the Narwhal's crew, its commander, and the far-north culture of the Esquimaux. In counterpoint, we meet the women left behind in Philadelphia, explorers only in imagination. Together, those who travel and those who stay weave a web of myth and mystery, finally discovering what they had not sought, the secrets of their own hearts.

Review Quotes

[B]oth cunningly cerebral and hair-raisingly visceral...This is an astonishingly good book by a writer we must declare as major.-- "Newsday"

A wonderful book in the truest sense of the word--wonder-filled.-- "USA Today"

Breathes with a contemporary urgency, an exhilarating adventure novel...A genuine page turner that long lingers in the mind.--Philip Graham "Chicago Tribune"

Breathtaking...exquisitely written in every way...fully worthy of the massive, dangerous subject it undertakes.-- "Cleveland Plain Dealer"

Stunning...Barrett shows the arrogance and delusion that drove the age of exploration better than any nonfiction book could.-- "Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Times"

This novel takes off over the sea, straight out of history and into tragedy...We get to luxuriate in the promise of retribution and in finely calibrated, persuasive prose.-- "The New Yorker"