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Ahab's Wife, or The Star-Gazer

4.01 of 5 stars 4.01 · rating details · 18,680 ratings · 1,685 reviews

A magnificent, vast, and enthralling saga, Sena Jeter Naslund's Ahab's Wife is a remarkable epic spanning a rich, eventful, and dramatic life. Inspired by a brief passage in Moby Dick, it is the story of Una, exiled as a child to live in a lighthouse, removed from the physical and emotional abuse of a religion-mad father. It is the romantic adventure of a young woman setti...more

Paperback, 704 pages

Published August 2nd 2005 by William Morrow Paperbacks (first published 1999)

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Mar 06, 2009 Babette rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

I must thank Louis Bayard for mentioning this book in an interview. I might not yet have read it if it weren't for him - and I am most appreciative. What an amazing book! I do feel inclined to return to Moby Dick once more, and this time to read it through. This book is complete even if Melville's novel never existed. But how cleverly Naslund makes connections to Melville's story, without repeating in any way what Melville told.
Una is an outstanding character. I savored this book because of her....more

16 likes · like · see review

May 17, 2007 Emily rated it 1 of 5 stars

Ick. I hated this book. I felt that the author was basically living out her own fantasy of being adored by these historical and fictional men. I mean, she even finds a way to work in Hawthrone and Emerson having a crush on her. It's the kind of book where the heroine stands on the deck of ships (or ports, or lighthouses) with her hair blowing in the wind a lot. All men want her. She survives great hardship with her noble spirit intact. And she has an intelligent, sensitive soul that is eventuall...more

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Aug 14, 2009 Marvin rated it 5 of 5 stars

A stunning, magnificent book!--Certainly in my top 10 ever!--great story, great characters, big ideas, & colorful writing that, like Jane Smiley's book about Bleeding Kansas, evokes the language of its period while also speaking in a distinctive voice to our own time. The narrator is the wife of Ahab, captain of the Pequod of Moby Dick fame. It's about several things, but principally about, I think, a woman "choosing life"--choosing her own path in the world and affirming life in the midst o...more

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Aug 22, 2007 Marin rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: book clubs

The first portion of this book was fascinating and well-written. Naslund's imagining of the details of the ill-fated travels of Captain Ahab and his wife are picturesque, with just the right gothic touches thrown in to lend horror where horror should be.

I liked the main character and was rooting for her... until the return to the States after the grotesque voyage that sent Ahab over the edge.

For some reason, Naslund chose to focus on the literati and cognoscenti of the era instead of simply cont...more

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May 20, 2008 Jamie rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: no one

Recommended to Jamie by: Bookgroup

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I went from really loving this book, to hating it, to thinking it was just okay.

Una is sent to live with her aunt on an island where they take care of a lighthouse. Una's mother sent her there because her father had become a religious fanatic and couldn't cope with Una's disbelief. She grows up at the lighthouse with her younger cousin Frannie. This part was sweet and reminded me of some of my own childhood experiences.

She meets Kit and Giles while at the lighthouse (they do some work to chang...more I went from really loving this book, to hating it, to thinking it was just okay.

Una is sent to live with her aunt on an island where they take care of a lighthouse. Una's mother sent her there because her father had become a religious fanatic and couldn't cope with Una's disbelief. She grows up at the lighthouse with her younger cousin Frannie. This part was sweet and reminded me of some of my own childhood experiences.

She meets Kit and Giles while at the lighthouse (they do some work to change out the lens) and falls for both of them but decides she will pursue Giles. She receives a letter from her mother telling her that her mother is pregnant and her father has killed himself because he couldn't bear failing another child again. Una goes inland to meet her mother but there receives another letter telling her that her mother has miscarried and returned home. Instead of going home she decides to cut her hair, sew some trowsers and become a cabin boy on the ship the Sussex.

It just so happens that it is the ship that Kit and Giles went on. She hides her identity from them but Kit discovers her after they have taken in a whale. Kit and Giles are no longer friends (you find out later Giles raped Kit) but Una brings them together. Then a whale rams the Sussex and it sinks. Three whaling boats are saved with Kit, Giles, and Una being on one of them. They get seperated from the other boats on there way to Chile, having decided not to go to the closer, canabalistic, Tahiti. Eventually their provisions run out and they draw lots. The Captains son draws but the Captain hits his son over the head and kills himself in effort to save his son. Kit, Giles, and Una eat everyone and are the only survivors. They get picked up by a passing merchant ship where Giles throws himself overboard and Kit goes mad. Kit requests that Una marry him but the captain of the boat won't do it.

They end up crossing paths with the Pequod and swap ships and head back for Nantucket (Kits hometown). Captain Ahab marries Una and Kit. Kit continues to go mad off and on. They arrive in Nantucket where they stay with Kits former girlfriend, Charlotte who is now married to Mr. Hussey. Charlotte takes care of them but Kit goes completely mad and pees in the town well for which he is arrested. He escapes jail and goes off to live with the Indians where "mad" men are accepted. Charlotte eventually leaves Mr. Hussey to go and find Kit amongst the Indians.

Ahab and Una keep running into each other. He divorces her from Kit and marries her. He has already but her a huge home completely unfurnished except the master bedroom. He leaves her to furnish it and is off whaling. The Judge lives next door and helps Una. He becomes her good friend.

She leaves Nantucket to go see her mother in Kentucky and have her baby there. While in labor her mother leaves to get the Doctor. Her carriage rolls over and she freezes to death in the cold. A runaway slave named Susan is hiding in Una's bed and helps Una deliver the baby but of course the baby dies. Una helps Susan run away. She then meets David Poland (for a second time)who was one of Susans bounty hunters and he has let Susan go but took the money that Una gave her. He takes Una back to Nantucket.

Ahab returns having had a very profitable trip and stays for a summer. Una is pregnant again and Ahab is off whaling again. Una has a son named Justice. Ahab returns after 3 years without his leg, very bitter, and seeking revenge on Moby Dick. Una cannot convince her husband to stay and so off he goes. Justice misses his father terribly. They move to 'Sconset for a simpler life. They eventually find out the the Pequod sunk and there was only one survivor. Una actually marries the surivor, Ishmael, whom she had seen on the merchant ship when she was rescued with Kit and Giles. They write there books together hers obviously Ahabs Wife and his Moby Dick.

Believe it or not I actually left out probably half of the story, death, and random characters. The author is a good writer and very creative. She had many themes which she related throughout the entire book. I just felt like she was trying to fit way to much in this book and there were to many characters and subplots that were distracting to the story.(less)

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Mar 07, 2008 Mary rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: english majors, marine biologists,

Whoa-finally finished this baby. Reading this is quite an investment in time; at least 1000 words could easily be sliced out to create a more coherent epic.

Word of warning; whenever you have a novel, based on an american classic (and an infamously difficult one at that) written by an english professor, you can expect literary symbolism to abound. In this case, I think the author gets caught up in her own cleverness; she throws everything but the kitchen sink at us.

Freedom or "Liberty" seem to...more

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Oct 27, 2007 Triffany rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Moby Dick Fans

When I started reading this book, I was thinking, "How could anyone give this any fewer than 4 to 5 stars?!?!" The writing was so beautiful and the world through the main character's eyes, although difficult, was beautiful and new and she was chameleon-esque changing and adapting to every day that she faced.

I was fascinated through most of it, wondering at how a person (even a fictional one) could continue to live life so far removed from her 'self'; her ego. She truly discovered the land, the l...more

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May 22, 2008 Ashlee rated it 1 of 5 stars

I COULD NOT STAND this book - it was torture for me to get through. There was SO MUCH uneccesary in it - it made me not care about ANY of it. She touched on just about every issue you can imagine: cannibalism, incest, homosexuality,death,insanity,women'rights,slavery,religion - you name it, it was in here.I was SOOO annoyed with this woman!!!! I am convinced she read Moby Dick one night, went to sleep and had one of those crazy meandering dreams where things she saw on the news and famous people...more

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Apr 07, 2013 Una rated it 4 of 5 stars

I'd like to believe I'm nearly as strong, forgiving, compassionate, thoughtful, open & positively persistent as my identically named sister is in this moving novel which, interestingly, pays tribute to the strength of women during a time when they had to take triumph if they sought it. Deep tones, period language, fascinating philosophical, religious & political paths, artistic & scientific pursuits, whale-hunting thrills & dangers, life on & by the sea, and physical & sp...more

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Oct 20, 2007 Ashley rated it 5 of 5 stars

I wasn't sure if I was going to enjoy this book when I first started reading it, but I really did. The book is a long one (nearly 700 pages, if memory serves), but it's rather engrossing. For me, it didn't have a section where I had to force myself to continue reading because I was bored (that sometimes happens to me). The characters are appealing, the plot is engaging (a little unbelievable at times, but I think that was intentional), and it's well-written. I particularly enjoyed what I would g...more

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Aug 21, 2008 Linda rated it 2 of 5 stars

A very complex read. I learned that sailor's historically wore golden earrings because wherever they died the earring would pay for their burial.

I learned about survival of one sort or another: sustenance living on a remote farm in Kentucky; sustenance living at the site of a lighthouse; sustenance living on a whaler and sustenance living while stranded on a raft with two men you love and others. Ah me.

There was, of course, my fascination with the houses that Ahab's wife lived within. The cabin,...more

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Feb 19, 2013 Melki rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction

A Ship is a Breath of Romance
That Carries Us Miles Away.
And a Book is a Ship of Fancy
That Could Sail on Any Day

There you have it. This is why books are better than ships. Well, maybe not this book...

Almost nine months ago, my book club picked this one as the February read, so I had plenty of time to read it. And I had the best intentions. I ordered a used copy last October, a nice first-edition hardback, heavy as any doorstop. I glanced at it and put it in my stack. Plenty of time to read it, no...more

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Jun 24, 2008 Colleen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I'm an English major who never read Moby Dick, but I did recognize the iconic characters on the periphery of Una's (Ahab's wife) epic. And what a story it is! Written in the vernacular of Herman Melville and Ralph Waldo Emerson, I learned much about 19th century Nantucket, whaling, and typical hardships of that time. Historic characters believably showed up in this novel, but Una was always central. I made a friend in her.

12 likes · like · see review

Jun 24, 2008 Lynn rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

The author takes a minor character out of the classic Moby Dick and writes a complete story about her. Una's 2nd husband in the early 19th century is Captain Ahab. This is an historically accurate, if farfetched, story of a free thinking young woman. Learn about the era, the difficulties, the religions adn superstitions, the sea and its impact on the New Englanders' lives, etc. A good read.

6 likes · like · see review

Apr 22, 2008 Rebecca rated it 1 of 5 stars Recommends it for: secret bees fans?

Recommended to Rebecca by: Pam at fort flaggler

Shelves: i-quit

I really tried on this one but it was irritating. A string of random adventures designed to heighten the female character whose validity is tied to strong, male characters, both fictional and real ( the poetic walk-in-the-woods was the last straw). The narration was a pain and overall unlikeable, so I quit, the first in years.

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Dec 28, 2008 Lightreads rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, historical, derivative-fiction

“Captain Ahab was not my first husband nor my last.”

Oh come on. Of course I had to quote the first line.

This book is derived from a single, glancing reference in Moby-Dick to the beautiful young woman Captain Ahab has married. This is Una Spencer’s story, in her own words. The book is massive, complex, written as a companion, a tribute, an argument, a twentieth-century female response to a nineteenth-century male book. It’s couched in the Moby-Dick style, from the choppy chapters to the capital...more “Captain Ahab was not my first husband nor my last.”

Oh come on. Of course I had to quote the first line.

This book is derived from a single, glancing reference in Moby-Dick to the beautiful young woman Captain Ahab has married. This is Una Spencer’s story, in her own words. The book is massive, complex, written as a companion, a tribute, an argument, a twentieth-century female response to a nineteenth-century male book. It’s couched in the Moby-Dick style, from the choppy chapters to the capital R Romantic school of writing and its dedication to individual power in the face of society, to natural ideals, to characters who are both individuals and avatars.

As derivative fiction, this is brilliant. From that first sentence, this book plants its feet solidly bestride the old classic and takes a broader view from a new height. Una’s story encompasses Ahab’s and surpasses it; it must to draw a complete portrait of the unusual woman who would capture driven Ahab’s love. Obviously, I find fanfiction on this scale absolutely delightful.

I admire the hell out of this book: the scope, the layered, image-saturated prose, the philosophy and the art of it. And Una is a powerful narrator and person – agnostic, abolitionist, thinker, mother, sailor, seamstress, lover. She dresses as a boy and goes to sea, and finds herself in the path of a number of famous people like Margaret Fuller and Maria Mitchell and, glancingly, Henry James. It’s a broad and faithful portrait of the times and of the style, but laying some of it out here, perhaps you see the problem. I feel as if this is sometimes a book before it is a story, if that makes sense. Una is extraordinary in ways that, yes, some women of the 1840’s probably were, but this book is as much about holding up the prism of Una against the nineteenth century as it is about holding her up for her own sake. But I can’t really put the teeth into this to make it criticism, because even it is faithful to the style, and Naslund is absolutely deliberate and controlled in what she is doing:

"In the quest of writing, the heart can speed up with anticipation as, indeed, during the very chase of whales. I can swear it, having done both, and I will tell you though other writers may not. My heart is beating fast. I am in pursuit, I want my victory that you should see and hear and, above all, feel the reality behind these words. For they are but a mask. The mask that conceals, not a mask that I would have you strike through as mere appearance or worse, deceitful appearance. Words need not be that kind of mask, but a mask such as the ancient Greek actors wore. A mask that expresses rather than conceals the inner drama. But do you know me? Una? You have shipped long with me in the boat that is this book."

I do think that this book can stand alone, both from Moby-Dick and from literary and social history, though maybe not as much as the author wishes. But knowledge of both adds and explains a whole lot – I rather suspect that the casual reader, who did not know that Moby-Dick was dedicated to Melville’s good friend Nathaniel Hawthorne, would find Una’s encounter with a strange veiled man on her walk to see her friend Margaret Fuller nearly inexplicable. This book puts the literary back in literary fiction, and I think it would be helped a great deal by a proper introduction and overview of the relevant historical and literary movements. And even with a solid grounding in the period, like I have, it’s still hard to fathom why in the world Naslund made a few particular stylistic choices (when you don’t really know until page six hundred why the absolute first person narration was briefly broken by a small chapter in script format at page three hundred, maybe there’s some rethinking that should happen).

Still, this is damn impressive for its vision, its thought, its very existence. It’s about the woman standing at home on the widow’s walk, about how she is not passive, about how as time passes she stops looking out to sea and starts looking up at the stars. It’s fanfiction to a particular work, to a place and a time, to the female experience, to history itself. And yes, if you couldn’t tell, it raised more intellectual admiration in me than emotional resonance, but to be fair, this really isn’t my favorite genre. This is exactly the sort of thing you will like, if you like that sort of thing, which I leave each of you to judge for yourself.

(less)

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Nov 07, 2008 Andrea rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, favorites, literary, cultural-tourism

This book became my addition for quite some time. Even though I read it some 2 years ago, it took residence in my being and here I am still thinking of it fondly enough to write my review!

I am fascinated by Naslund's ability to select a seemingly insignificant reference in the classic, Moby Dick, and give it breath. The sensory experience of the printed word was at times emotionally wrenching and at times dread dull, as you might expect when sitting down to listen to the life story of a legend....more

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Jun 27, 2008 Jess rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction, books-about-books, adult-fiction

I loved the build-up of this novel - knowing that Una will eventually marry Ahab, but not knowing how that will come about made for a great sense of anticipation. The story of her childhood and growing up was also fascinating, particularly the parts of the story set at the lighthouse. However, once Big Things Happen and Una meets Ahab, I lost a little of that sense of anticipation and lost a little interest, even though I still thought the characters and plot were compelling. I just wasn't as ho...more

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Feb 15, 2013 Richard Quis rated it 5 of 5 stars

"Captain Ahab was neither my first husband nor my last" drew me to Sena Jetter Naslund's story as strongly as Herman Melville's opening line in Moby-Dick "Call me Ishmael." Ahab's Wife is a mid-19th century tale of a "young girl-wife's" survival and growth. Mrs. Captain Una Ahab, a title earned, adventure begins when puberty and eligible young men arrive while she is isolated on a lighthouse island. Una's journey off the island forces her to ponder questions of religious fate, divinity, motherho...more

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Apr 25, 2013 Jessie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: feminist-literature, literary-fiction, bildungsroman, contemporary, historical-fiction

Ahab's Wife is a book I saw a few years ago in a Borders; it's been sitting on my "to read" list since. When I saw it on sale through Kindle's monthly deals at $3.99, I decided the time was right to read it! I ended up loving this book more than I have loved a book in a long time. The writing is truly lyrical. The main character, Una, is an amazing model of a true feminist woman. The author writes in first person, which I haven't seen often in literary fiction (at least the books I've read). It...more

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Jan 28, 2013 Maryann rated it 2 of 5 stars

This is an historical novel about the wife of Ahab of Moby Dick fame.

The book is in need of a good editor and a serious trimming. It seemed as if the author was trying to pack in as much of her research as possible, with many asides to name drop 19th century New Englander intellectuals that don't really advance the story (my character is smart woman admired by Emerson!). There are many minor character stories that always seem to end in tragedy. There also seem to be a few chapters where the auth...more

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Nov 12, 2012 Rachel d. rated it 2 of 5 stars

i had high hopes for this book. i needed an adventure. i needed something that was not idiotic. i picked a couple of pages at random, and it seemed well done. The language, in the beginning, was beautiful and distracting. The story seemed to have an anti-bullshit female character (which i typically distrust, as the author will inevitably take them too far one direction or another) without the i am woman hear me roar cheese. The story moved well, and seemed strong....somewhere around the later mi...more i had high hopes for this book. i needed an adventure. i needed something that was not idiotic. i picked a couple of pages at random, and it seemed well done. The language, in the beginning, was beautiful and distracting. The story seemed to have an anti-bullshit female character (which i typically distrust, as the author will inevitably take them too far one direction or another) without the i am woman hear me roar cheese. The story moved well, and seemed strong....somewhere around the later middle of the book, i began to sense that things were unraveling. Not for the character, but with the author. Certain events had been described to death, while other more significant things were barely mentioned. i passed it off as a style and pressed on. By the end, i realized that the book that had seemed so promising had let me down. i was kind of irritated. It had so much POTENTIAL. Damn. And then, because it was too late at night to start another book, i decided to read the "P.S" included in the back, about the author. It was a huge mistake. It is always a huge mistake. i have a firm rule about looking at author photos..i don't like to know in the beginning, lest it sway my opinion somehow (not because i'm a shallow asshole, but because the words, if written properly, will give themselves a voice, and i don't want some disembodied head floating around bonking into the images i get in my brain). It makes no sense and i won't try and justify it. So, imagine the disembodied head telling you things. Things about why it wrote blah blah section and what to think about blah blah's character. Anyway, she went on to describe how she didn't do an outline. How sometimes, she didn't even know what was going to happen to her character. That was pretty apparent by the end. Threads every which way. Maybe i was so annoyed by what she had to say about the writing of the book that i have judged it too harshly. Perhaps, had i not read the P.S. i would be more forgiving. i usually don't bother with a review, but goddamn it, this could have been good. Stupid P.S.(less)

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May 18, 2012 lady jane added it

Shelves: novel

When I first picked up this book, I was intrigued, but I hesitated because I do not like imitative fiction. Make no mistake, this is not fan fiction or an attempt to pay homage to a great writer, but a modern writer with the chutzpah to think that she is as good as Melville. Even worse is her attempt to imitate him, a mistake.
Naslund might even be quite a good writer (albeit one in need of an editor who slices and dices), if she were not so imitative and derivative. She has imagination. She has...more When I first picked up this book, I was intrigued, but I hesitated because I do not like imitative fiction. Make no mistake, this is not fan fiction or an attempt to pay homage to a great writer, but a modern writer with the chutzpah to think that she is as good as Melville. Even worse is her attempt to imitate him, a mistake.
Naslund might even be quite a good writer (albeit one in need of an editor who slices and dices), if she were not so imitative and derivative. She has imagination. She has the ability to capture a reader. She has a good plot (until she goes off the rails, begins to name drop the great intellectuals of New England and has Una meet the narrator of Moby Dick as he begins to 'write' the book). She even creates some interesting characters. She does not, however, create a world that stands by itself. Instead she is hobbled by her attachment (adoring devotion?) to a previous author, which cripples her tale and leaves the reader dissatisfied.
Ahab had a wife, but I very much doubt that the character Ahab, who wrestled with good and evil, chasing the incarnation of evil across the seas, was a love-sick romeo who wooed his wife with all the characteristics of a hero from the pages of a romance novel. He is kind, understanding, loving, sexy, a good provider, unbelievably rich, etc.
Our protagonist (Una Spenser, Ahab's wife) is unbelievable, obsessed with the imperfections of humans and her own need to be forgiven for past transgressions (not sins, she is carefully framed as not-religious, but always searching so calling these transgressions sins would be too simple).
Perhaps Naslund's worst sin, however, is that she often tells the reader how to perceive the characters rather than portraying their characteristics. Thus, we are told that Una is fascinating, although our personal opinion (especially after 700 pages) may be quite different. I also could not shake the impression that the title and the attachment to Melville was simply an attempt to sell more copies of what might have been an obscure, over-written and under-selling novel. (less)

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Apr 11, 2012 Sheila rated it 1 of 5 stars

There...I have finished it. It was like reading someone's diary. Too long, too detailed, and monotonous in tone. No suspense, unless you don't know the end of Moby Dick, no ebb or flow. It just reads, slowly and laboriously for 666 pages in first person of a woman that doesn't exist. If this were about a real person, I would consider this valid. If it were a reflection of the hardships of being a captain's wife or a seamstress in the 1800's, I would also give it merit. But instead we have an ext...more

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Jan 01, 2012 Mary rated it 4 of 5 stars

It was a beautifully written story. Although overly verbose at parts, the prose was 'amazing' (I am taking a dig at the recently released over-used words of 2011 which included 'mancave' and 'occupy') However, the writing was truly, for lack of a better word, amazing.

It took me four months to finish this novel. The length (over 650 pages) was not the reason since I read the mammoth novel Pillars of the Earth in much shorter time frame. I think it was because the writing literally put me to slee...more

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Nov 21, 2011 Pennystevens rated it 4 of 5 stars

In this sometimes overwhelming take on the Ahab story, using a few characters from the classic novel, Sena Jeter Naslund visits the life of Una, the wife of Captain Ahab, and the time she spends with her Captain is surprisingly gentle and romantic. The two of them don't truly find one another until about halfway through the novel, however. The beginning of Una's life is just as interesting, though in different ways. She is born in Kentucky, lives for several years with a lighthouse-keeping famil...more

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Jul 07, 2010 Katie rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

This book was pretty engaging, plot-wise--the main character's life has so many random elements in it that it certainly lowers the average for the mundane across everybody else's. However, it was also pedantic, preachy, and entirely unbelievable at times. Una, the main character, can be irritating in her self-righteousness, and clearly a mouthpiece for the author to expound on her own views (I'm guessing she has something against organized religion? Not that there's anything wrong with that, of...more

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Jan 21, 2010 Lauren rated it 3 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Nov 20, 2009 Laura rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: books-i-bought-in-an-airport, derivatives-i-enjoy-in-their-own-ri

I bought this book in an airport because my Kindle was out of battery, and I truly enjoyed it. I had many of the same issues with the book that other reviewers did, particularly the random encounters with historical figures, and Una's attempts at philosophical discourse with them, which I found a bit forced (I have to confess to a bit of "speed-reading" during those segments). However I felt that parts of the book illuminated for me some of the mysteries and dark places in Moby Dick, posing an i...more

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Jul 19, 2009 Tiffany rated it 4 of 5 stars

When I read books like this, I wish I was an English major. Or I wish I was reading along with a bunch of English majors so that they could point out things that I'm sure I'm missing on my own. Thankfully there's reading guides on the internet.

Ahab's Wife is, essentially, a look at Melville's Moby Dick from a woman's perspective. It is a feminist's answer to the epic classics we have all read in high school and college. Guess what? According to Naslund, the women of those literary pieces weren'...more

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About Sena Jeter Naslund

Sena Jeter Naslund is the New York Times best-selling author of five novels, including Ahab's Wife (1999) and Abundance: A Novel of Marie Antoinette (HarperCollins, 2006). She is currently Distinguished Teaching Professor and Writer in Residence at the University of Louisville and program director of the Spalding University brief-residency Master in Fine Arts in Writing. Recipient of the Harper Le...more

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“If you meet a woman of whatever complexion who sails her life with strength and grace and assurance, talk to her! And what you will find is that there has been a suffering, that at some time she has left herself for hanging dead.” — 576 people liked it

“Great minds may have cold hearts. Form but no color. It is an incompleteness. And so they are afraid of any woman who both thinks and feels deeply.” — 60 people liked it

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title link	preview: Ahab's Wife, or The Star-Gazer
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BBCode	[url=http://gr-assets.com/book/show/7742.Ahab_s_Wife_or_The_Star_Gazer?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348914161l/7742.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://gr-assets.com/book/show/7742.Ahab_s_Wife_or_The_Star_Gazer?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Ahab's Wife, or The Star-Gazer by Sena Jeter Naslund[/url]

Ahab's Wife, or The Star-Gazer

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