The Whaler

The Island of Sylt, Book 1

By: Ines Thorn, Kate Northrop - translator

Narrated by: Nicol Zanzarella

In the opening epic novel of The Island of Sylt trilogy by bestselling author Ines Thorn, a young woman must choose between love and poverty, or thrilling adventure and tormented passion.

Germany's North Sea Coast: The Island of Sylt, 1764

Life in the windswept village of Rantum in the North Sea is fraught with peril and hardship. Most families must rely on arranged marriage just to survive. But free-spirited Maren Luersen doesn't care for riches - her heart belongs to handsome but poor Thies Heinen. He may not have prospects or fortune to offer, but Maren knows their intense love can overcome any obstacle, and she is determined to be his bride.

The wealthy and mysterious Captain Rune Boyse has other plans. He shocks Maren with a startling marriage proposal, and even though he can give her family a better life, her love for Thies is too powerful to deny. But when tragedy strikes, she finds herself in debt to the captain and must set sail with him on a dangerous whale hunt - with no promise of a safe return.

If Maren survives, will life be the same back on shore? Or will her heart change course somewhere over the icy swells of the Arctic Sea?

©2016 Ines Thorn. Translation © 2017 Kate Northrop. (P)2017 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Listened to the whole book in one day.

This book just lured me along. I just wanted to k ow what was going to happen. It wasn't a pretty neat packaged romance. It kept me wondering what would really happen.

Interesting background

If you could sum up The Whaler in three words, what would they be?

Unusual time, place

If you’ve listened to books by Ines Thorn and Kate Northrop - translator before, how does this one compare?

n/a

Which scene was your favorite?

I loved the description of the celebration of the old gods

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The losses incurred by a very impoverished people due to the storm were painful to imagine.

Any additional comments?

The true-to-life adolescent silliness of the protagonist and the unromantic proposal by the Captain saved this novel from being a tiresome Cinderella story.

An excellent book. Uplifting.

This book is the reason so many other good books get 4 stars. This one is enthralling, gripping and restores belief in humanity. Enjoy the other ones , and treasure this one. An award winner among thousands.

Very good

It was a little slow at the beginning but then it picked up and I was captivated by the story. Very good!

Original

Loved this book,. Narration was easy to listen to. emphasis and inflection was spot on.