My latest news, about a brilliant book

First of all, I apologise for the weird and unsatisfactory appearance of this blog. Ever since there was a site so-called “upgrade” I have struggled to set the page as I want, and insert images satisfactorily. No doubt it’s me who is the problem, but what was such a simple and satisfying site has now become frustrating. Never mind! Here is my latest news, about a brilliant book published just three days ago!

But first, I’m sad to report that once again I’m a book group failure – luckily our little gang are very tolerant of me being such a fussy reader. The reason I’m failing this month is that our get-together is on Thursday and I’m less than halfway through the book which is like wading through treacle. I won’t mention what it is but it has had mixed reviews and is 463 pages long – yes, 463!!! I’m on page seventy-four and it was a struggle to get there (even with some skip-reading!) I was full of optimism – well, not exactly full, but fairly enthusiastic, and it started off in an interesting location on the west coast of the USA, somewhere I’ve visited (my oldest friend lives there) before the characters head north to Alaska. Well, that’s somewhere which interests me and would love to visit – possibly because I so enjoyed the 1990’s drama, ‘Northern Exposure’. However, the characters in this book, the plot, the narrative just haven’t grabbed me, and I feel as though I’m wading through thigh-high snow with them – but not in a good way.

Maybe I’m spoiled because I’ve just finished reading Chris Speck’s latest book.

Chris Speck is a writer and musician from East Yorkshire, UK.He writes crime thrillers set in Hull, historical novels set in the East Riding of Yorkshire, and seafaring tales set out in the North Sea. Chris spent his twenties travelling the world — first as a guitar teacher, then teaching English in countries as diverse as Hungary, Spain, and Papua New Guinea — before returning to the flatlands of East Yorkshire. He also plays washboard in the legendary skiffle group, Black Kes.

Chris’s latest book is set in 1802 and takes place on a fishing boat, a whaler heading out into the North Sea in February with the aim of catching whales. We, in our modern world are repulsed by this ghastly trade – however, we can’t pretend the past hasn’t happened and people lived the way they did, often with no choice. Reading about the past is important, more than important, is vital for us to understand the world we live in now. The ship and the grim business of catching whales is the background to the actual story:

Captain Swift has never commanded a whaling ship before, let alone one the size of the Sovereign. On the trip to Greenland and the North Ground, they will hunt the bowhead whale and harvest the blubber and baleen that is worth a fortune back in Hull. The job is gruesome and dangerous. Pack ice can crush or trap a ship. The cold punishes. With one flick of her tail, a bowhead whale can split a boat in half, and once a man is in the ice water, he’s dead. When the Sovereign picks up two stowaway women in Shetland, Swift is too green to toss them overboard. He is not ruthless enough to command these rough Hull lads or use their skills to his advantage. He is out of his depth. Perhaps the Sovereign will not make it back home after all – perhaps, with Swift in command, she was never meant to.

It is the best book I’ve read for ages, and I stayed up way too late reading it, absolutely gripped with the power struggle between the crew and Captain Swift, and the officers who have their own different agendas. Add into what is essentially a power struggle, there are two women stowaways on board – considered extremely unlucky for a ship at sea. There are gruesome accounts of the hunting, killing, and butchering of the whales for their blubber, used to make oil which was an essential household and industrial fuel for lamps. These different elements make an unputdownable read. However, it is not just the story which makes this such a remarkable book, it is what we learn about the whaling industry – a horrific, repulsive and criminal business two and a quarter centuries ago, which continues even today.

Here is a link to “The North Ground”:

https://www.hullhistorycentre.org.uk/research/research-guides/hull-whaling.aspx

What was whale oil used for and why?