"Jeffrey Ford is one of the few writers who uses wonder instead of ink
in his pen." - Jonathan Carroll
A bold and intriguing fabulist novel that reimagines two of the most
legendary characters in American literature--Captain Ahab and Ishmael of
Herman Melville's Moby-Dick--from the critically acclaimed Edgar and
World Fantasy award-winning author of The Girl in the Glass and The
Shadow Year.
At the end of a long journey, Captain Ahab returns to the mainland to
confront the true author of the novel Moby-Dick, his former shipmate,
Ishmael. For Ahab was not pulled into the ocean's depths by a harpoon
line, and the greatly exaggerated rumors of his untimely death have
caused him grievous harm--after hearing about Ahab's demise, his wife
and child left Nantucket for New York, and now Ahab is on a desperate
quest to find them.
Ahab's pursuit leads him to The Gorgon's Mirror, the sensationalist
tabloid newspaper that employed Ishmael as a copy editor while he wrote
the harrowing story of the ill-fated Pequod. In the penny press's
office, Ahab meets George Harrow, who makes a deal with the captain: the
newspaperman will help Ahab navigate the city in exchange for the
exclusive story of his salvation from the mouth of the great white
whale. But their investigation--like Ahab's own story--will take
unexpected, dangerous, and ultimately tragic turns.
Told with wisdom, suspense, a modicum of dry humor and horror, and a
vigorous stretching of the truth, Ahab's Return charts an inventive
and intriguing voyage involving one of the most memorable characters in
classic literature, and pays homage to one of the greatest novels ever
written.
