This beautifully illustrated publication by by Betsy Tyler is the true story of the trials and tribulations of a family enmeshed in the whaling industry and the ensuing drama and destruction wrought by this brutal pursuit. Â
In the center of the tale is an ordinary woman, Susan Veeder, who led an extraordinary life. She lived on a whaleship for more than four years, recorded her experiences in a rare, illustrated journal, and then settled back into her Nantucket home while her husband and sons all returned to the sea, on voyage after voyage. In a shocking denouement to their lives, Susan’s husband, Charles Veeder, a respected and successful whaling captain, devolved into a drunken madman, became enamored of a Polynesian woman and chose to remain in the South Seas for the rest of his life.