Beyond the Book: Ahab’s Wife, Or the Stargazer

For more than a century, readers have been captivated by the exploits of the legendary Captain Ahab, but how many of us have spared a thought for the woman he left behind on shore? Ahab’s wife – an unnamed character granted fewer than a dozen sentences in Moby Dick – is brought vividly to life in Sena Jeter Naslund’ rich saga. Participants will inspect artifacts and writings left behind by local whaling wives to see how closely Naslund’s fiction imitates fact.