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Ahab's Wife

Sena Jeter Naslund

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Sale

Ahab's Wife

by Sena Jeter Naslund
Save up to 34%
Ahab's Wife
Ahab's Wife

Epic maritime tale through a resilient woman's eyes.

If you're drawn to narratives that richly weave a secondary character's journey into a tale as compelling as the original, then "Ahab's Wife" is poised to captivate you. Sena Jeter Naslund's work expands the world of "Moby-Dick" with lyrical prose and profound emotional depth, exploring themes of love, loss, and independence that resonate well beyond the sea's horizon. Opening a dialogue with a classic while standing firmly on its own, this book is a treasure for fans of historical fiction and strong female protagonists.

  • Orange Prize Nominee for Fiction Longlist (2001)
  • Book Sense Book of the Year Award Nominee for Adult (2000)
  • Alabama Author Award for Fiction (2001)
Note: While we do our best to ensure the accuracy of cover images, ISBNs may at times be reused for different editions of the same title which may hence appear as a different cover.
Sale

Ahab's Wife

by Sena Jeter Naslund
Save up to 34%
Condition guide

Book Condition Guide

Books in Like New Condition

This book may contain very minor cosmetic defects, but it is in pristine condition. There should be no yellowing, no foxing, no water damage, and no annotations of any kind on the cover and the pages. For paperbacks, there should not be any crease marks on the spine. This book is good as new — lucky you!

*Books may be missing bundle media (e.g. CD, e-book code), if included.

Books in Very Good Condition

This book has been used, but it is still in a clean condition. There should be no foxing or annotations of any kind on the inner pages, but a sparse amount may be present on the cover, title pages, or outside edges of the book. There should be no water damage of any kind. For paperbacks, there may be light crease marks on the spine.

*Books may be missing bundle media (e.g. CD, e-book code), if included.

Books in Good Condition

We do our best to ensure the quality of our books, but there is no escaping the wear and tear that comes with time. Slight foxing and some annotations may be present on the pages and the cover. There should be no water damage of any kind. For paperbacks, there may be several crease marks on the spine.

*Books may be missing bundle media (e.g. CD, e-book code), if included.

Books in Well Read Condition

This is a well-read book, which means that the previous owner probably really enjoyed it! The cover and pages may include moderate foxing and annotations, but the text is not obscured and still readable. Moderate cosmetic defects and minor water damage may be present on the edges of the book. For paperbacks, there may be multiple crease marks on the spine.

*Books may be missing bundle media (e.g. CD, e-book code), if included.

 

Find out more about our process here.

ISBN: 9780688177850
Author: Sena Jeter Naslund
Publisher: HarpPeren
Date of Publication: 2000-10-03
Format: Paperback
Related Collections: Literary Fiction, Historical Fiction
Related Topics: Classics, Feminism, Literature
Goodreads rating: 4.03
(rated by 44947 readers)

Description

From the opening line--"Captain Ahab was neither my first husband nor my last"--you will know that you are in the hands of a masterful storyteller and in the company of a fascinating woman hero. Inspired by a brief passage in Melville's Moby-Dick, where Captain Ahab speaks passionately of his young wife on Nantucket, Una Spenser's moving tale "is very much Naslund's own and can be enjoyed independently of its source." (Newsday) The daughter of a tyrannical father, Una leaves the violent Kentucky frontier for the peace of a New England lighthouse island, where she simultaneously falls in love with two young men. Disguised as a boy, she earns a berth on a whaling ship where she encounters the power of nature, death, and madness, and gets her first glimpse of Captain Ahab. As Naslund portrays Una's love for the tragically driven Ahab, she magnificently renders a real, living marriage and offers a new perspective on the American experience. Immediately immersed in this world, the reader experiences a brilliantly written, vibrant, uplifting novel--a bright book of life.
 

Epic maritime tale through a resilient woman's eyes.

If you're drawn to narratives that richly weave a secondary character's journey into a tale as compelling as the original, then "Ahab's Wife" is poised to captivate you. Sena Jeter Naslund's work expands the world of "Moby-Dick" with lyrical prose and profound emotional depth, exploring themes of love, loss, and independence that resonate well beyond the sea's horizon. Opening a dialogue with a classic while standing firmly on its own, this book is a treasure for fans of historical fiction and strong female protagonists.

  • Orange Prize Nominee for Fiction Longlist (2001)
  • Book Sense Book of the Year Award Nominee for Adult (2000)
  • Alabama Author Award for Fiction (2001)
Note: While we do our best to ensure the accuracy of cover images, ISBNs may at times be reused for different editions of the same title which may hence appear as a different cover.

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