The Rathbones, the 18th-century whaling family at the center of Janice Clark’s debut novel, have a mystical connection to the ocean. Moses Rathbone, the family patriarch, could feel the water’s current when he was on land, predict the weather, see miles out to sea, and swim underwater for ten minutes. Most providentially, he could sense whales.
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Moses built a dynasty on the shore of Connecticut, sending out whaling ships every year, manned by Rathbone sons and grandsons who’d inherited the family gift, and bringing in whale oil and gold by the barrel.
Part gothic epic, part steampunk farce, The Rathbones is populated with sailors and their ships, feuds, legends, men who talk to whales, and bones that can sing. Accompanied by her cousin Mordecai, Mercy spies on other whaling families, becomes a skilled sailor, and visits strange women who live in caves to slowly uncover how her once great family lost the sea.
By Janice Clark (Doubleday). Reading Thu 9/12, 6 PM 57th Street Books 1301 E. 57th semcoop.com
