Landfalls
Naomi
J. Williams
This
book offers a realistic
imagined version of a circumnavigational voyage helmed by French
Commodore Jean-François de
Galaup, comte de Lapérouse, in the late 18th century. Reading almost like a novel in stories, each chapter offers
a different point of view based on one of the expedition's ports of
call, following everyone from the voyage's officers and seamen to
those waiting for them at home and those whom the expedition
encountered along their travels. The mix of perspectives and
storytelling techniques keeps the book fresh and rounds out the
story, lending it a sense of realism unmatched by many historical
novels, particularly those (like this one) that must, by necessity,
fill in numerous gaps from the actual historical record. Williams is
a deft writer and the reading experience is as engrossing as it is
gently educational; clearly based on serious research, the stories
never lose sight of the humanity behind the events, and each is
compelling while adding to the tapestry of the whole. Landfalls
is an excellent fictional introduction to a relatively unknown
scientific pursuit, a well-imagined take on what might have been on
an ill-fated journey into the unknown.
Grade:
A
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