A fictionalised account of the tormented and, for the time, scandalous life of Herman Melville, author of the 19C classic Moby Dick. 1841. A young Herman Melville is yet to write Moby Dick. He sets out on a voyage aboard a whaling ship. What happens on that trip will give him enough material for a lifetime of writing. But what of the dark things Melville encounters on his journey, and the illicit relationships he embarks upon that are to torment him once he returns home to his wife Lizzie?...

Synopsis

Herman had often walked these streets, eyeing the forest of tall ships, their blackened strakes handsomely curved, masts like crosses, empty of sails ...1841. A young Herman Melville is yet to write Moby Dick. He sets out on a voyage aboard a whaling ship. What happens on that trip will give him enough material for a lifetime of writing. But what of the dark things Melville encounters on his journey, and the illicit relationships he embarks upon that are to torment him once he returns home to his wife Lizzie? All is revealed as Jay Parini lifts the lid on one of the greatest writers of the nineteenth century ...

Reviews

This novel powerfully conveys the allure of the sea, and of the ships that do battle with its creatures. And Parini's evocation of Melville's relationships is moving... In his dealings with his wife, his friend Nathaniel Hawthorne, and the young men who people his story, he becomes a tragic figure, finally rendered heroic by his capacity to feel. - Observer

About the Author

Jay Parini is Axinn Professor of English at Middlebury College, Vermont. His six novels also include Benjamins Crossing and The Apprentice Lover. His volumes of poetry include The Art of Subtraction: New and Selected Poems. In addition to biographies of John Steinbeck, Robert Frost and William Faulkner, he has written a volume of essays on literature and politics, as well as The Art of Teaching. He edited the Oxford Encyclopedia of American Literature and writes regularly for the Guardian and other publications.   Author photo © Oliver Parini More books by this author Author 'Like for Like' recommendation