Longlisted for the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction
''Eloquent, impressive . . . while her touch is witty, her manner almost buoyant, her themes are sinister beyond belief. She touches the frontiers of the human'' Hilary Mantel
Boston, 1833
Aboard the USS Orbis as it embarks from Boston and surges south to round Cape Horn, Hiram Carver takes up his first position as ship''s doctor. Callow and anxious among the seasoned sailors, he struggles in this brutal floating world until he meets William Borden.
Borden. The Hero of the Providence. A legend among sailors, his presence hypnotizes Carver, even before he hears the man''s story. Years before, Borden saved several men from mutiny and led them in a dinghy across the Pacific to safety.
Every ship faces terror from the deep. What happens on the Orbis binds Carver and Borden together forever. When Carver recovers, and takes up a role at B
