Voyage to the North Star

By Peter Nichols

Book Overview

America is marching headlong into the Depression. Unemployment is rife, Reds are protesting in New York's streets, but on the waterfront Prohibition has failed to water down the beer. The rich are meanwhile getting richer, and the poor only more destitute, in this powerfully wrought novel that crosses the paths of two men from opposite ends of the social spectrum. While the industrialist and sometime big-game hunter Carl Schenck has amassed a fortune fabulous enough to expect the world to cater to his whims, seaman Will Boden has lost his boat, his wife, and his reputation. Second chances don't come easily to a captain who's abandoned his own ship - until Schenck's determination to organize an Arctic safari presents Boden with the opportunity to do what no seasoned seaman would: to navigate a luxuriously appointed but ill-equipped yacht, the Lodestar, through perilous Polar waters. Its adventure as harrowing as a tale by Jack London, its vision as haunting as Joseph Conrad's, this remarkable novel pitches the master and crew of the Lodestar into the grip of treacherous Arctic seas and moral disaster. Praise for Sea Change by Peter Nichols: "Marvelous . . . In his understated telling of the story, he never seeks your sympathy. He just breaks your heart." - New York Times Book Review "A heartbreaking and harrowing sea tale" - Los Angeles Times

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0786706643
• ISBN13: 9780786706648
• Release Date: January 1999
• Publisher: Carroll & Graf Pub
• Length: 342 Pages
• Weight: 1.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.8" x 1.5" x 6.8"

Customer Reviews

Fine sea adventure

Peter Nichols debut novel showcases a real talent. The story combines a terrific sea story with taut adventure. The foibles and ambitions of the rich and reckless shipowner clash with those of the de facto ship's captain to raise this tale to an exceptional level. Save this one for a day off - once it starts rolling, you won't be able to put it down!

Smart, elegant, superb.

Fantastic book and a great gift. Wished it didn't end. Nichols writes beautifully.

A Wonderful Sea Story

This is a thoughtful book by a man who both loves and understands the sea -- and its risks. Peter Nichols tells a deeply ironic but beautiful story of a wild adventure in the northern reaches of the Atlantic on and around Baffin Island, which is north of Labrador and west of Greenland. In some ways Nichols seems too enamoured with death. Nevertheless, his tale is both exciting and moving and demonstrates a deep understanding of the sea, ships, and the men who sail them. Highly recommended.

A well-told, positively captivating tale

Nichols is a writer who does not intrude upon the telling of his tale. And oh, what a story he tells. The prose is quiet, yet powerful, capable of provoking a visceral response in the reader. More than a good read; an experience for the reader.

This book is literature and adventure at the highest level.

Like Charles Frazier's Cold Mountain, Voyage to the North Star is an adventure story written at a deep heartfelt level. Nichols's epic story of sailor Will Boden chasing his dreams on a whcko yacht in the arctic goes just as deep. And, with a crew of tragic, lucky and unlucky misfits who all seem wonderfully real and well-drawn, I was taken all the way with them. It's a wild ride. The descriptions of the fogbound arctic seas and tundra landscape are terrific. A great read for the armchair adventurer.