A review by flogigyahoo
Landfalls by Naomi J. Williams

5.0

An amazing book! Naomi Williams in her first novel manages to tell the story of a French exploratory expedition leaving France in 1785 consisting of 2 ships one captained by the Count de Laperouse and the other by Viscount de Langley. During each step of the preparations we enter the minds of the various participants in this endeavor: the two captains, the engineers, the navigators, the botanists. We then have the landfalls: Concepción, Alaska, California, and on and on to Botany Bay. Williams' writing is flawless, wise, tender, exciting. She describes a world long gone so vividly it reappears before one's eyes. I savored every page, making sure this nearly 400 page marvel would last and last and last. Not an easy read but profound and touching.