April 28, 2003
Nonfiction accounts about whaling tend to intone Melville's name like a mantra, and Druett's volume about the bedeviled 1841–1845 voyage of the Sharon
is no exception. By any measure, the expedition was a catastrophe, with mutiny, desertion and the mid-voyage murder of Capt. Howes Norris by South Pacific Kanaka tribesmen. "It is probably no coincidence," Druett writes, "that Captain Ahab found disaster in the same empty tropic seas where Captain Norris was killed." New Zealander Druett, a well-known maritime journalist (She Captains; Rough Medicine; etc.), doesn't focus on Norris's death. She's more interested in plumbing the "crucial questions" that "lurk unanswered," foremost among them: what caused the severe discontent among the crew? The answer turns out to be, unsurprisingly, Norris's beastly and sadistic treatment, mainly his frenzied persecution of black steward George Babcock. Druett draws on recently unearthed journals from the voyage to assemble a terrific account of an unusually eventful voyage. She has the good sense to maintain a light touch on the events, and manages a perfect balance between telling the story in an unfussy yet dramatic manner and honoring its complexity. Agent, Laura J. Langlie. (May 9)Forecast:True accounts of whaling voyages often do well. But is the market saturated by books like
In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex and
Ahab's Wife: Or, The Star Gazer: A Novel—not to mention the books of Patrick O'Brian—or is there room for Druett to sell well, too? With several whaling books to her name, she may have carved out a solid niche for herself. The book has been chosen as a Booksense pick for May.
March 15, 2003
The whaleship Sharon of Fairhaven set off on May 25, 1841, for the whaling grounds of the northwestern Pacific. Three years later, the ship returned with only four of her original 29 crewmen. Her captain, Howes Norris, had been hacked to death by mutineers, and, according to the ship's log, the other 24 had either jumped ship or died. Maritime author Druett (Hen Frigates; Petticoat Whalers) embarks on a murder investigation mixed with equal parts whaling lore, mystery, retribution, and history. Her central thesis is that Captain Norris's aberrant behavior caused both the ship's remarkable number of casualties and desertions and the mutiny and his own death. Druett substantiates this through careful research into the written records left by the four original crewmen, and she adds depth and perspective to her lively narrative with details drawn from contemporary accounts of the hardships of shipboard life, as well as of the business of the early whaling industry. Although sometimes heavily dependent on speculation and surmise, Druett's venture into detection is an informative and vividly re-created picture of America's maritime past. Recommended for all libraries with a demand for maritime history.-Robert C. Jones, Warrensburg, MO
Copyright 2003 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
April 1, 2003
When the American whaleship " Sharon" arrived at Sydney in December 1842, the world first heard of the shocking murder of the captain by several Pacific island natives serving on the crew. Chalking it up to the savage nature of the islanders, no one bothered to investigate. Druett, a widely published maritime historian, retells the familiar story of how the mutineers were overcome but delves deeper into the details of the infamous expedition. She bases her account on the journals of the ship's cooper and the third mate. Even before Captain Norris beat the ship's steward to death, both journals indicated the captain had a mean streak and racist tendencies. Crew members who passively watched the violent outbursts did not publicly reveal that Norris was dangerous, nor that the islanders had good reason to fear the captain. Druett's account of the incident will appeal to those looking for a good drama, but also to those analytically minded skeptics inclined to ask questions and dig below the surface.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2003, American Library Association.)