Customer Reviews

The Norwegian Lady and the Wreck of the Dictator

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On a recent vacation to Virginia Beach I was introduced to both this wonderful little book and its author during a dramatic one-man show based on "The Norwegian Lady..." If you are interested at all in maritime history and the drama it entails, you will love this book. There are moments within that will bring you to tears, as the courageous captain tries to save his beloved wife, infant son ... and faithful crew ... while the ship, within sight of the shore goes down in a terrible storm off the coast of Virginia Beach ... all the time the citizens on land watching helplessly. This is a well-researched gem of a book, now updated and reprinted to include coverage of some of the yearly ceremonies held at the statue of the Norwegian Lady which faced the sister city across the Atlantic in Moss, Norway.

My family also was introduced to this story at the site of the Virginia Beach Statue of The Norwegian Lady this year. I wonder if it is the same young man performing as the other reviewer saw? We've been to Virginia Beach several times since 2003 and I think we've been past it a few times as it was being performed but this year we finally sat down to watch. It was a wonderful performance and on the night we attended, the young man had to battle a most obnoxious street preacher with his excessively loud rant about the evils of modern society. Jerk wouldn't even take a break during the performance. Now I know why I don't like public displays of religion. Keep God to yourself, it's much more intimate and fulfilling. Proselytizing doesn't do anything. In spite of the distraction, the actor did quite well and it made for a very entertaining 20 minutes it took to tell the tale. The performance is basically taken from Chapter 2 of the book, with some obvious liberties for dramatic effect.

Anyway, the book fills out the background around the story and gives a wealth of pre- and post-event information. More information is presented about each of the key parties and it does dispell some of the myths surrounding the wreck that make for more colorful legend. It is written from as many articles as the author could find, and his writing is kind of stilted so it isn't the most flowing of readings, but I did enjoy reading it in one evening.

It's an inexpensive book, I think it's worth the price and if you ever visit Virginia Beach, be sure and go to the museum right next to the statue and definitely see the performance! Hope you have a quieter time than we did!