Scan barcode
lydzzz357's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
lenalooo's review against another edition
slow-paced
I kept reading, thinking it would eventually make sense. It never did.
cathybruce208's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting, but kind of a mess. It's meant to tell its story from multiple points of view. Their connections gradually become clear, but the book doesn't hang together well enough for me.
krobart's review against another edition
4.0
See my review here:
http://whatmeread.wordpress.com/tag/the-ghost-of-the-mary-celeste/
http://whatmeread.wordpress.com/tag/the-ghost-of-the-mary-celeste/
mwgerard's review against another edition
4.0
I am fascinated by tales of the ocean, mysteries of the sea (I even have an interest in cryptozoology). The ocean is just so vast and for centuries uncharted. It was the greatest adventure anyone could embark upon. But even with maps and coordinates and best laid plans, ships disappear. What’s significant about the Mary Celeste is that she reappeared. She was found near the Azores completely abandoned and sailing under her own power. Her cargo was untouched, no damage was found and no one ever heard from anyone who was aboard ever again. All of this is true.
Martin has carefully constructed a novel around this strange occurrence. She has assembled three narratives. One focus is that of the Briggs, the family of the captain — and his wife and daughter — who were all lost at sea. The reader is given insight into the family’s inner workings and relationships before the captain takes this doomed commission.
The reader is also introduced to the greenhorn Dr. Doyle who is a ship’s surgeon on an African-bound vessel. He hears of the discovery of the Mary Celeste and decides to turn it into a short story. He publishes it anonymously, titled “J. Habakuk Jephson’s Statement.” This gave it an air of formality and many took it to be a true account of the happenings aboard the ship.
Please support independent reviewers and read my full review here: http://mwgerard.com/review-the-ghost-of-the-mary-celeste/
Martin has carefully constructed a novel around this strange occurrence. She has assembled three narratives. One focus is that of the Briggs, the family of the captain — and his wife and daughter — who were all lost at sea. The reader is given insight into the family’s inner workings and relationships before the captain takes this doomed commission.
The reader is also introduced to the greenhorn Dr. Doyle who is a ship’s surgeon on an African-bound vessel. He hears of the discovery of the Mary Celeste and decides to turn it into a short story. He publishes it anonymously, titled “J. Habakuk Jephson’s Statement.” This gave it an air of formality and many took it to be a true account of the happenings aboard the ship.
Please support independent reviewers and read my full review here: http://mwgerard.com/review-the-ghost-of-the-mary-celeste/
kathleenww's review against another edition
5.0
I enjoyed Valerie Martin's books Mary Reilly and Italian Fever. When I saw the title of her latest book (due out January 28, 2014), I knew I had to read it; the mystery of the Mary Celeste is an enduring mystery that has always fascinated me. As usual, Ms. Martin's prose and handling of the subject matter doesn't disappoint.
The book has several main characters, but all are connected by the ship, found drifting, empty of any living souls. Martin approaches the subject matter with respect. Martin uses the actual names of the captain and his family on the ship, and an actual story written by Arthur C Doyle, to expand and create an aura of mystery and intrigue. Injecting Doyle into the story allows for an expansion into a plot involving the spiritualist movement of that flourished from the mid 1800's through the 1920's.
In this setting, Martin masterfully weaves an intriguing plot with fascinating characters who don't quite say what they are really thinking, which is fine, since Martin let's us know exactly what is going on, as far as their thoughts. The books spans decades, and we see one character in particular grow and change the most. I love a book like this, that takes a mix of real characters and imagined ones, and has them interact and say things to each other that are totally believable and advance the plot.
Violet Petra is a medium of extraordinary powers. She is sought out by many, but her own life is shrouded in mystery. Her revelations to a journalist, and to the creator of Sherlock Holmes become turning points in her life. You will want to know Violet, why she knows what she does, and how she became the fascinating woman she is. Martin's way with a story is charming and complicated, like a beautiful and inscrutable woman. This is an excellent novel, fun to read, and a page turner.
The book has several main characters, but all are connected by the ship, found drifting, empty of any living souls. Martin approaches the subject matter with respect. Martin uses the actual names of the captain and his family on the ship, and an actual story written by Arthur C Doyle, to expand and create an aura of mystery and intrigue. Injecting Doyle into the story allows for an expansion into a plot involving the spiritualist movement of that flourished from the mid 1800's through the 1920's.
In this setting, Martin masterfully weaves an intriguing plot with fascinating characters who don't quite say what they are really thinking, which is fine, since Martin let's us know exactly what is going on, as far as their thoughts. The books spans decades, and we see one character in particular grow and change the most. I love a book like this, that takes a mix of real characters and imagined ones, and has them interact and say things to each other that are totally believable and advance the plot.
Violet Petra is a medium of extraordinary powers. She is sought out by many, but her own life is shrouded in mystery. Her revelations to a journalist, and to the creator of Sherlock Holmes become turning points in her life. You will want to know Violet, why she knows what she does, and how she became the fascinating woman she is. Martin's way with a story is charming and complicated, like a beautiful and inscrutable woman. This is an excellent novel, fun to read, and a page turner.
stevienlcf's review against another edition
4.0
Martin opens her historical novel in 1859 when Captain Joseph Gibbs and his wife Maria are swept out to sea when their ship collides with a steamer. Their newly-orphaned son, Natie, who was left in the care of Joseph’s mother, Mrs. Gibbs, is attended to by 13 year old Hannah Cobb. To the alarm of her widowed father, the Rev. Leander Cobb, and her older sister, Sarah, Hannah reports sightings of Maria’s ghost and begins a correspondence with a man in Boston who leads a group of spiritualists.
Martin then turns to the mystery of the Mary Celeste, a ship found derelict in 1872. Various theories arose to try to explain the fate of the Mary Celeste: the captain and the crew were the victims of foul play on board; the ship was seized by pirates; the ship was abandoned in an attempt to defraud the insurance companies. The legend of the Mary Celeste provided Sir Arthur Conan Doyle with his earliest success when, in 1884, he published an unsigned story titled “J. Habakuk Jephson’s Statement” in the Cornhill, an English literary journal. Conan Doyle’s story recites that a vengeful mulatto along with his bloodthirsty African friends, slaughtered the Mary Celeste’s captain, the captain’s family, and the crew, leaving only the narrator alive to tell the story. In an effective narrative device, Martin shows how the Cornhill was delivered into the hands of various subscribers, including Mrs. Gibbs, who lost five of her six children to the sea, and to Violet Petra, a renowned psychic, who confides in Phoebe Grant, a reporter interviewing Violet in the hope of exposing her as a fraud, that she was the best friend of the Mary Celeste’s captain’s wife, Sarah. Martin focuses much of the attention on Violet Petra and how she is coopted by various sponsors who hope to use her to make contact with their loved ones in the after-life.
Martin’s unconventional structure where the novel passes from character to character with varying viewpoints, styles, and contradictory accounts is confusing at times but, like the seafaring families that she chronicles, these tales recede into the mist and then converge into a satisfying tale.
Martin then turns to the mystery of the Mary Celeste, a ship found derelict in 1872. Various theories arose to try to explain the fate of the Mary Celeste: the captain and the crew were the victims of foul play on board; the ship was seized by pirates; the ship was abandoned in an attempt to defraud the insurance companies. The legend of the Mary Celeste provided Sir Arthur Conan Doyle with his earliest success when, in 1884, he published an unsigned story titled “J. Habakuk Jephson’s Statement” in the Cornhill, an English literary journal. Conan Doyle’s story recites that a vengeful mulatto along with his bloodthirsty African friends, slaughtered the Mary Celeste’s captain, the captain’s family, and the crew, leaving only the narrator alive to tell the story. In an effective narrative device, Martin shows how the Cornhill was delivered into the hands of various subscribers, including Mrs. Gibbs, who lost five of her six children to the sea, and to Violet Petra, a renowned psychic, who confides in Phoebe Grant, a reporter interviewing Violet in the hope of exposing her as a fraud, that she was the best friend of the Mary Celeste’s captain’s wife, Sarah. Martin focuses much of the attention on Violet Petra and how she is coopted by various sponsors who hope to use her to make contact with their loved ones in the after-life.
Martin’s unconventional structure where the novel passes from character to character with varying viewpoints, styles, and contradictory accounts is confusing at times but, like the seafaring families that she chronicles, these tales recede into the mist and then converge into a satisfying tale.
lollypopkins225's review against another edition
2.0
Thinking I would get a fictionalized mystery story of the real life mystery of the infamous Mary Celeste I picked up this book eagerly. I did however found a book with a disjointed story and characters who weren't interesting. Even Arthur Conan Doyle famous author and Spiritualism couldn't make this an interesting story. I did finish this in hopes that at some point the story could turn around but in my opinion it never did.
moogen's review against another edition
2.0
I found this ponderous in both plot and style. Not the worst book I've ever read (Eat Pray Love anyone?) but I was glad to be done with it.