Moby-Dick reimagined from the perspective of a cross-dressed female sailor
'Brilliantly written... ambitious, brave, strange' Philip Hoare
'One of the most valuable writers in the world' Deborah Levy
1843. Ishmaelle is born in a small village on the stormy Kent coast where she grows up swimming with dolphins. After her parents and infant sister die, her brother, Joseph, leaves to find work as a sailor. Abandoned and desperate for a life at sea, Ishmaelle disguises herself as a cabin boy and travels to New York.
Call Me Ishmaelle reimagines the epic battle between man and nature in Herman Melville’s Moby Dick from a female perspective. As the American Civil War breaks out in 1861, Ishmaelle boards the Nimrod, a whaling ship led by the obsessive Captain Seneca, a Black free man of heroic stature who is haunted by a tragic past. Here, she finds protectors in Polynesian harpooner, Kauri, and Taoist monk, Muzi, whose readings of the I-Ching guide their quest.
Through the bloody male violence of whaling, and the unveiling of her feminine identity, Ishmaelle realises there is a mysterious bond between herself and the mythical white whale, Moby Dick. Xiaolu Guo has crafted a dramatically different, feminist narrative that stands alongside the original while offering a powerful exploration of nature, gender and human purpose.
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Call Me Ishmaelle 9781784745608 Hardback
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- Authors:
- Guo, Xiaolu
- Year Published:
- 2025
- Country of Publication:
- United Kingdom
- Format:
- Hardback
- ISBN:
- 9781784745608
- Number of Pages:
- 448
- Publication Date:
- 20/03/2025
- Publisher:
- Vintage Publishing
- Language:
- English
- Place of Publication:
- London
- SKU:
- 9781784745608