All aboard the Neptune's Car, where a young, pregnant sea captain's wife takes charge when he falls gravely ill, navigating their clipper around Cape Horn and on to San Francisco to the amazement of all.
Mary Ann Brown was barely out of childhood when she married Captain Joshua Patten. Though sea captains' wives were often considered unlucky, the smart and quick-witted Mary devoured books in the ship's library and learned all she could about the maritime life as she traveled with her husband, including how to navigate.
At the age of 19, and pregnant with their first child, Mary finds herself fearing the worst for her husband, who has fallen ill while sailing from New York Harbor to San Francisco in 1856. With the first mate imprisoned for insubordination, followed by trying to get the crew to mutiny, it is up to Mary and her dedicated crew to see the ship safely to port.
The Sea Captain's Wife: A True Story of Mutiny, Love, and Adventure at the Bottom of the World by Tilar J. Mazzeo is a detailed account of Mary Ann Patten, the first American woman to command a ship. Mazzeo provides background on the families of Joshua and Mary and the journeys the married couple embarked upon. While this is certainly a gripping account, the reader is over 100 pages into the book before Joshua's illness and Keeler's lack of respect develop, and Mary takes charge. I found myself skipping ahead to get to the heart of what I wanted to read about. Mary was a woman ahead of her time, who displayed courage in the face of challenging odds. Her story cannot be considered overall a happy one, but she left her mark in maritime history, which Mazzeo has captured for modern readers.
- Publisher : St. Martin's Press
- Publication date : December 9, 2025
- Language : English
- Print length : 288 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1250352584
- ISBN-13 : 978-1250352583
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