Items related to Abigail
Born at sea and raised in early nineteenth-century New Zealand, strong-willed Abigail Sherman is the daughter of the American owner of a shore-whaling station. Trouble with the English authorities prompts Captain Sherman to set Abigail on board a ship bound for Massachusetts, at the start of a series of hair-raising adventures that shifts from vicious mutinies to storms off Cape Horn, to encounters with militant women’s rightists, to a murder trial in New Bedford.
Teased by a cryptic riddle that promises a fortune, and shocked by news of her father’s brutal assassination, Abigail escapes her puritanical relatives and heads back to New Zealand, determined to claim the ship that is her rightful inheritance. It is a turbulent expedition, in which she crosses paths with gamblers, fortune-hunters, and opportunistic whaling captains, and survives the savage jungles of Panama and the dangerous alleyways of the ports of Chile and Peru, finally to meet the ultimate challenge of treachery in the South Pacific.
Here, Joan Druett, the author of twelve popular maritime books, has created a novel of compulsive readability. Superbly researched, the story of Abigail confirms the reputation of a widely acclaimed spinner of tales of the sea.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
From Publishers Weekly:
Having spent her early years on a 19th century whaling ship, Abigail Sherman can't quite get her land legs when her father packs her off to New Bedford, Mass., to learn some proper manners. Everything she knowssalacious sea chanteys, the wide-open view from the top of the riggings, the relaxed pace of life in New Zealand, where she and her father settledis of little use in stiff New England. Poor Abigail is constantly putting a foot wrong. When a letter bearing the sad, perplexing tidings of her father's murder arrives, she bamboozles her way aboard one whaler and then into a marriage of convenience with the glowering young captain of another. Her small legacy is the brig she grew up on and a puzzling rhyme that may lead to a fortune, but before she can return to New Zealand to collect, Abigail must faceand conquergrumbling sailors, a murderous mystery man, and her own attractive, hot-headed husband. Excellent characters in full sail amid tangy salt air and creaky timbers offer prime entertainment. Though New Zealander Druett ( Exotic Intruders ) uses one too many romantic cliche, she engagingly captures the atmosphere of whalers and their world. Doubleday Book Club alternate.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal:
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.
New Zealand, a whaling ship, a spirited young woman, and a fast-paced plot are the successful mix in this first novel. Abigail Sherman was born, raised, and at home on her father's whaling ship. Following her mother's death, she is sent to the dour household of a Massachusetts cousin. News of her father's murder propels her to escape and marry a young whaling captain in a desperate bid to return to New Zealand, claim the brig her father had deeded her, and seek the answer to the riddle he left for her. Lots of adventure, a colorful cast of characters, and enough whaling details to provide a first-rate vicarious experience. Doubleday Book Club Alternate. Joan Hinkemeyer, Englewood P.L., Col.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherIuniverse Inc
- Publication date2000
- ISBN 10 0595132979
- ISBN 13 9780595132973
- BindingPaperback
- Number of pages418
- Rating
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