num_pages: 668
description: 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 setting sail in a cabin boy's disguise to encounter darkness, wonder, and catastrophe; the story of a devoted wife who witnesses her husband's destruction by obsession and madness. Ultimately it is the powerful and moving story of a woman's triumph over tragedy and loss through her courage, creativity, and intelligence.
language: English
title: Ahab's Wife, or The Star-Gazer
titlecomplete: Ahab's Wife, or The Star-Gazer
characters: Kit Sparrow, Giles Bonebright, Captain Ahab, Una Spenser, Frederick Douglass
genres: Book Club, Historical, Historical Fiction, Unfinished, Literary Fiction, Novels, Adult Fiction, Literature, Adult, Fiction
ratings_count: 44331
places: The United States of America
awards: awardedAt: 978336000000
name: Orange Prize
category: Fiction Longlist, awardedAt: 946713600000
name: Book Sense Book of the Year Award
category: Adult, awardedAt: 978336000000
name: Alabama Author Award
category: Fiction
publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks