In the Wake of Madness

Native New Zealander JOAN DRUETT is the author of eleven books on maritime history and historical fiction. She has been the recipient of a PEN/Hubert Church Award, a Fulbright Fellowship, and the John Lyman Award for Best Book of American Maritime History. She was a consultant for the award-winning "Seafaring Women" exhibition and has appeared as a guest speaker at maritime museums across the country. While much of her research is carried out in the United States, she lives in Wellington, New Zealand, with her husband, Ron.

A small notice in a Sydney shipping publication in 1842 hinted of a bigger story: A Massachusetts-based whaling ship, the SHARON, was putting into port due to desertions and the murder of its captain. Parts of the story were publicized at the time, but other pieces remained secret for years. Joan Druett decided to take a closer look at events that may have inspired Herman Melville's TYPEE and MOBY-DICK. She investigated the journals and personal logs written at the time to find the characters and motives behind the unusual events. Dennis Boutsikaris goes beyond a dry, factual reading to create a gripping drama of cruelty on the seas, as suspenseful as any of Melville's fiction. J.A.S. © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine