In the Wake of Madness

Author
Book reviewer
Categories
Book reviews, Naval Historical Review
Tags
No tags for this post.
Source

By Joan Druett

Reviewed by Tigger Wise

In Joan Druett’s latest maritime history novel, facts pile on facts as thick and fast as a trivia night quiz. We learn the height of New England whalemen down to the last quarter inch, the precise number of yams taken aboard the Sharon at Rotuma, the genealogies of endless New England families, how much it costs to fit out a whaler etc etc. ‘Get on with it, Joan’, you long to say, ‘We don’t need all this’ but Joan is determined not to waste a drop of her hard-won research.

Which is a pity, because the core tale is not without interest. The murder at sea of the brutal Captain Howes Norris on board the whaleship Sharon in November 1842 is the stuff of all great maritime yarns. The subsequent bravery of 3rd Mate Benjamin Clough likewise.

But Joan’s skills, unfortunately, lie in the library rather than on the page. Her Quaker-plain prose, despite her constant evocation of Herman Melville, never manages to illuminate the soul of her villain, Norris, nor that of her hero, Clough.

If you’re after a thorough common- sense account of the men and mechanics of the early whaling industry centred in the New Bedford/Martha’s Vineyard area of NE America round about the mid 1800s, then this is the book for you. But for the alchemy that transforms mere words into a wild and gripping tale, read Moby Dick again instead.

Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2004
Paperback.

Possibly related posts

Join the Society today

This article was originally printed in the Naval Historical Review - June 2004 edition.
If you enjoyed this, then why not take out your own subscription. The Review is published quarterly to all members of the Society. By joining the Society you will always have the latest copy on hand and well before it comes onto the web site.