Eating Owen: An Old Nantucket Mystery

By: Anne E. Beidler

Sign Up Now! Already a Member? Log In
You must be logged into Bookshare to access this title. Learn about membership options, or view our freely available titles.

Synopsis: Based on the tragic true story of the sinking of the Essex, a Nantucket family torn apart by fate—and a whale that would come to be known as Moby Dick. In the early 1800s, every young man on the island of Nantucket dreamed of travelling the world aboard one of the massive whaling ships in the harbor. Owen Coffin was no different—and when he was chosen to join the crew of the Essex, he thought his future was bright on the horizon. He was tragically wrong. At sea, the Essex was attacked and sunk by a raging whale, setting the survivors adrift on a horrific, months-long journey that few would survive. Some resorted to cannibalism, including Owen. But by the time they were rescued, Owen had reportedly been fairly elected to be killed and eaten. But no one can truly say what really happened. Here is the fictionalized story of four members of the Coffin family: Abigail, Nancy, Zimri, and Owen. It is the harrowing story that would eventually be told in Herman Melville’s Moby Dick, of a family whose name would go down in history, and of a whale whose revenge could not be believed . . .