Download The Whale: A Love Story AudioBook Free
A rich and captivating novel place amid the witty, high-spirited literary contemporary society of 1850s New England, supplying a new windowpane on Herman Melville's psychologically charged relationship with Nathaniel Hawthorne and how it altered his masterpiece, Moby-Dick. In the summer of 1850, Herman Melville sees himself hounded by creditors and frightened his writing job might be coming to an end - his last three books have been commercial failures, and the critics have changed against him. In despair Melville requires his family for a vacation to his cousin's plantation in the Berkshires, where he matches Nathaniel Hawthorne at a picnic - and his life becomes ugly. The Whale chronicles the fervent love affair that develops out of that serendipitous day. Already in debt, Melville recklessly borrows money to acquire a local plantation in order to remain near Hawthorne, his newfound muse. The two develop a profound connection proclaimed by tensions and estrangements and thoughts both distributed and suppressed. Melville dedicated Moby-Dick to Hawthorne, and Symbol Beauregard's novel fills in the story behind that commitment with historical accuracy and reliability and exquisite psychological detail, reflecting his nuanced reading of the real letters and publications of Melville, Hawthorne, Oliver Wendell Holmes, among others. An exuberant tale of longing and passion, The Whale captures not just a transformative relationship - long the main topic of speculation - between two of our most long lasting creators but also their exhilarating minute in history, when a community of high-spirited and ambitious authors was creating truly American books for the first time.
