Voyage of the Narwhal: A Novel

Download or read book Voyage of the Narwhal: A Novel written by Andrea Barrett and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 1999-09-17 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A luminous work of historical fiction that explores the far reaches of the Arctic and of men's souls." —Denver Post 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.