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cindywindys_tbr 's review for:
The Voyage of the Narwhal
by Andrea Barrett
I really liked the topic of this book and the setting and tone. I never read anything by Andrea Barrett but I did like her writing style.
The novel is set in the 1850's and starts off with a group of men about to set off on an arctic exploration trip on the ship called the Narwhal. The mission of this trip is to find out what happened to Franklin and his men. Franklin's ships were equipped to handle 3 years out to sea but they have been missing for 10 years. Previous rescue/exploration missions found traces of Franklin's remnants, including evidence the crew resorted to cannabilism to survive longer. Another mission for this trip is to explore new regions of the arctic and find evidence of an open polar sea.
The majority of the book is told from the viewpoint of Erasmus, the naturalist on board. He collects samples of the plants and animals and becomes good friends with the doctor on board. The expedition is led by Zeke, Erasmus soon to be brother-in-law. Zeke is so ambitious he puts everyone at risk. Instead of returning home in October as originally planned he drives his crew to explore further causing their ship to be iced in for the long winter. Erasmus struggles with his own ambitious desires, concern for the safety of the crew, and his loyalty and responsibility towards his sister's soon to be husband.
I enjoyed the descriptions of the arctic, learning a little bit the history of arctic exploration, and reading about the Eskimos. In general the arctic trip portion of the book was very interesting. This book isn't packed with crazy arctic adventure stories (no polar bear attacks or miraculous recovery of lost men), it dealt more with the psychological effects of arctic exploration. It was when the remaining crew returned to PA and dealt with all these issues and the Annie/Tom plot, that I kind of lost interest.
The novel is set in the 1850's and starts off with a group of men about to set off on an arctic exploration trip on the ship called the Narwhal. The mission of this trip is to find out what happened to Franklin and his men. Franklin's ships were equipped to handle 3 years out to sea but they have been missing for 10 years. Previous rescue/exploration missions found traces of Franklin's remnants, including evidence the crew resorted to cannabilism to survive longer. Another mission for this trip is to explore new regions of the arctic and find evidence of an open polar sea.
The majority of the book is told from the viewpoint of Erasmus, the naturalist on board. He collects samples of the plants and animals and becomes good friends with the doctor on board. The expedition is led by Zeke, Erasmus soon to be brother-in-law. Zeke is so ambitious he puts everyone at risk. Instead of returning home in October as originally planned he drives his crew to explore further causing their ship to be iced in for the long winter. Erasmus struggles with his own ambitious desires, concern for the safety of the crew, and his loyalty and responsibility towards his sister's soon to be husband.
I enjoyed the descriptions of the arctic, learning a little bit the history of arctic exploration, and reading about the Eskimos. In general the arctic trip portion of the book was very interesting. This book isn't packed with crazy arctic adventure stories (no polar bear attacks or miraculous recovery of lost men), it dealt more with the psychological effects of arctic exploration. It was when the remaining crew returned to PA and dealt with all these issues and the Annie/Tom plot, that I kind of lost interest.