Ahab's Wife, or The Star-Gazer

sena jeter naslund christopher wormell

A magnificent, vast, and enthralling saga, Sena Jeter Naslund's Ahab's Wife is a remarkable epic spanning a rich, eventful, and dramatic life. Inspired by a brief passage in Moby Dick, it is the story of Una, exiled as a child to live in a lighthouse, removed from the physical and emotional abuse of a religion-mad father. It is the romantic adventure of a young woman setting sail in a cabin boy's disguise to encounter darkness, wonder, and catastrophe; the story of a devoted wife who witnesses her husband's destruction by obsession and madness. Ultimately it is the powerful and moving story of a woman's triumph over tragedy and loss through her courage, creativity, and intelligence.

Genres fictionhistorical fictionbook clubhistoricalliteraturenovelsliterary fictionadult fictionadultwomens

668 pages, Paperback

First published September 22,1999

Literary awards

orange prize, book sense book of the year award, alabama author award,

Places

the united states of america,

This edition

Format: 668 pages, Paperback
Published: August 2, 2005 by William Morrow Paperbacks
ISBN: 9780060838744
ASIN: 0060838744
Language: English

Characters More characters

Captain Ahab

the captain of a whaling ship...
Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, c.1818 - 1895) was an African-American social reformer, orator, writer and statesman. After escaping from slavery, he became a leader of the abolitionist movement, gaining note for his dazzlin...
Una Spenser

...
Kit Sparrow

...
Giles Bonebright

...

About the author

sena jeter naslund

Sena Jeter Naslund is the New York Times best-selling author of five novels, including Ahab's Wife (1999) and Abundance: A Novel of Marie Antoinette (HarperCollins, 2006). She is currently Distinguished Teaching Professor and Writer in Residence at the University of Louisville and program director of the Spalding University brief-residency Master in Fine Arts in Writing. Recipient of the Harper Lee Award and the Southeastern Library Association Fiction Award, she is co-founder of The Louisville Review and the Fleur-de-Lis Press. She lives in Louisville, Kentucky."