Customer Reviews

Ahab's Bride: Book One of Ahab's Legacy

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I wasn't sure in the beginning whether I would like this book. It's written with a great deal of narrative writing and is "chewy" like the books of old. But then as I continued reading, that's exactly what I liked about the book. It had depth. The story unfolded slowly, but it allowed me to get into the hearts and minds of the characters.

Well-written novel with a great deal of historical information woven throughout the story. Ahab's great battle with the white whale Moby Dick was shadowed by the struggle of a woman desiring to understand the heart of a man. Good story.

In one of those odd literary coincidences two Moby Dick fans simultaneously got the bright idea of writing fictional accounts about Ahab's wife, but while Sena Jeter Naslund was writing for publication, Louise M. Gouge was writing her dissertation novel, not really expecting to ever publish it. (One assumes that the critical and commercial success of Naslund's Ahab's Wife: Or, The Star-gazer: A Novel lead Gouge's editor and agent to push her into polishing it up for publication as her third book.) What resulted was the Ahab's Legacy trilogy, of which this is the first volume.

You might think it unfair to compare the two, and you'd be right but for the wrong reasons. Naslund's Everyone Loves Una; Or, The Navel-Gazer: A Mary Sue, as I call it, is one of the worst books I've ever forced myself to finish. In contrast the Ahab's Legacy trilogy was a pleasure to read.

Similarities abound, both authors having decided that an unconventional girl was needed to win old Ahab's heart, but profound differences exist that make for interesting comparison and contrast. Thus, while Una is a laughably absurd prodigy, Hannah is simply a woman slightly ahead of her time due to an unconventional upbringing as the doted on only child of a devoted widower. While Una basks in the worship of mid-nineteenth century New England's thoughtful elites, Hannah reads their books, attends their lectures, and finds her thinking profoundly influenced by them. Compared to unintentionally hilarious Una, Hannah comes across as only slightly more modern than everyone else, an all too human figure.

This first volume is about their love and marriage and his obsession and death.

Note: Louise M. Gouge is a devout Christian, and Christian themes are explored throughout the novels so if Christianity gives you a rash, you have been warned. However, to her credit, Gouge does little preaching and never gets preachy.

The middle book of the trilogy is Hannah Rose, and the final book of the trilogy is Son of Perdition.

Young, headstrong Hannah Oldweiler sets her heart on the famous Captain Ahab and wins his love in return. While celebrating the passion and commitment of married love, Ahab's Bride examines the trials and difficulties that come with it. Hannah faces the challenges and complexities of a relationship with a man "larger than life" with spirit and determination.

She has not chosen an easy path and her questions of what faith in God truly mean are tested again and again, especially when she takes second place to Ahab's quest for revenge against the terrible Moby Dick.

A colorful historical journey into the 19th century Nantucket whaling community, Ahab's bride is a poignant tale that brings to life the people and era of an industry that no longer exists.

Louise M. Gouge's characters live. They will delight and haunt you even after the last page is read, leaving you with a desire to know yet more about these endearing people.

Ahab's Bride touches your heart and soul. When Hannah wept, I wept. Each character in this wonderful novel, even Ahab, is richly drawn. I felt as if I had opened the door to Hannah's world. From the innocent eighteen-year-old with stars in her eyes when meeting the magnatic Ahab to the widow years later weeping for her dead husband who spit in the eye of God. Ms. Gouge is a superb writer. She sweeps into your world and tells you to follow her in her world. I encourage everyone to open the pages of Ahab's Bride and go along on Hannah's journey to become the independent and mature woman she came to be.

As the prelude to Herman Melville's Moby Dick, Louise M. Gouge's Ahab's Bride stirs a reader's desire to read the classic novel. Gouge's handling of the text is well done, her characters jump from the page, and the narrative fills in the blanks concerning the life of literature's mightiest whaler, Captain Ahab.

Hannah Oldweiler is drawn to Captain Ahab from their first meeting, as he is to her. They marry, much to the disappointment of both Hannah's father and her young suitor, Jeremiah Harris, both of whom worry for her spiritual welfare.

It does not take long for Hannah to realize that her marriage to Ahab will have no effect on his vocation, as he continues to disappear on the interminable whaling ventures, leaving her to care for the estate. At the conclusion of one of these voyages, Ahab returns with a wooden leg, lost in a struggle with a giant white whale, and becomes consumed with revenge.

Taking second place to Ahab's grudge match, Hannah and her small son are left to face life alone. How will Hannah learn the lessons life is offering her and how long will it take before she turns back to God in her loneliness and confusion?

Craig Hart (...)

Louise Gouge's telling of Ahab's Bride's story is beautifully wrought. The tone is consistent throughout the book, so much so that I was captivated by the time period. She does a lovely job of capturing Ahab's obsession, his penchance for pushing away anyone who longed to have deep ties with him--all in all a great character study of pride and its destructiveness both to the person who is prideful and the person living near the pride-filled one.

I normally don't read historical fiction, but I greatly enjoyed this book.

Ahab's Bride is captivating. Although I am not easily hooked into a novel, I was hooked almost before I could take a breath. I could hardly put the book down until I was finished.

From the first paragraph the reader is transported back in time to 19th century Nantucket into the world of Moby Dick's Captain Ahab and the woman who falls love with him. With an impeccable depiction of the period, Louise M. Gouge walks us through the dusty streets of two whaling communities and into the lives of these fictional, but realistic characters.

Hannah Rose, the viewpoint characer, is a woman who transcends time, a woman we easily identify with, a strong woman who goes after her dreams and faces life with honesty and courage, somewhat reminiscent of Ida in Cold Mountain.

Meanwhile, the person of Captain Ahab, as seen through the eyes of love, takes on new and intriguing dimensions which make you want to brush off your copy of Moby Dick and read it all over again.

Louise Gouge does a terrific job of showing us the real Ahab, both his obsession with the White Whale and his more personal life when on land. Great story.

Gouge weaves a luminous story of a young woman's passionate love for a man considerably older than herself and her search for a faith on which she can anchor her life when earthly love fails. Completing the story of Captain Ahab of Moby Dick, Ahab's Bride introduces readers to the headstrong young woman he married, Hannah Rose Oldweiler. Her intelligence and will are a match for Ahab's, but despite his love for her, he cannot be dissuaded from the hunt for the great white whale who ultimately kills him. While he is bent on avenging the injury the whale did to him, Hannah discovers a sure source of faith that sustains her through life's trials as she struggles with the loneliness of her husband's long absences at sea and the conflicts that inevitably rise between them. This intensely felt narrative brings to life a rich cast of fascinating characters and the nineteenth-century world of whalefishery in New Bedford and Nantucket. Readers will be moved and inspired.

Ahab's Bride is one of the best books I've read for a long time. All I can say, is "Bravo!" Louise Gouge captured the essence of 19th century New Bedford and Nantucket with an authenticity that put me right there in that place and time. Her writing drew me into the character of Hannah Rose, completely. I could feel Hannah's joy, angst, anger, and grief as Gouge skillfully charted her spiritual trek to a stronger faith in God. The character of Ahab is just as compelling, and to my surprise, I found myself feeling sympathy for this character that could vacillate between kindness, cold indifference, and fury. The author gives the reader an honest and unflinching look into Ahab's soul, and does a wonderful job defining a very complicated and multi-faceted personality. She breathes life into the entire cast of characters, showing a depth of knowledge and understanding of the place and people to a degree I rarely find in a novel. In short, after finishing the story, I am having "Hannah Rose withdrawal." I can hardly wait for "Hannah Rose," the second in Louise Gouge's "Ahab's Legacy" series to be released this coming January.