Bøger af Joan Druett

In the heady climate of the nineteenth century goldrushes, "going to see the elephant" was a saying that described an exciting, often dangerous, and usually profitless adventure-something to tell one's grandchildren about. In the spirit of the bestselling Island of the Lost, the story is told of the crew of the Connecticut schooner Sarah W. Hunt. When their boats are blown out to sea, off one of the most icy and hostile islands in the sub-Antarctic ocean, twelve men are abandoned by their skipper, left to live or die by their own wits and stamina. Six survive, to be carried to New Zealand-where the inquiry and court case that follow become an international controversy, with repercussions that reach as far as the desk of the president of the United States.

The fifth in the Wiki Coffin series finds the U.S. Exploring Expedition off Cape Horn, a grim outpost made still more threatening by the report of a corpse on a drifting iceberg, closely followed by a gruesome death on board. Was it suicide, or a particularly brutal murder? Wiki investigates, only to find himself fighting desperately for his own life.

More riveting tales of shipwreck and survival from the author of Island of the Lost.

After more than a century of silence, the true story of one of history''s most notorious mutinies is revealed in Joan Druett''s riveting "nautical murder mystery" (USA Today). On May 25, 1841, the Massachusetts whaleship Sharon set out for the whaling ground of the northwestern Pacific. A year later, while most of the crew was out hunting, Captain Howes Norris was brutally murdered. When the men in the whaleboats returned, they found four crew members on board, three of whom were covered in blood, the other screaming from atop the mast. Single-handedly, the third officer launched a surprise attack to recapture the Sharon, killing two of the attackers and subduing the other. An American investigation into the murder was never conducted--even when the Sharon returned home three years later, with only four of the original twenty-nine crew on board. Joan Druett, a historian who''s been called a female Patrick O''Brian by the Wall Street Journal, dramatically re-creates the mystery of the ill-fated whaleship and reveals a voyage filled with savagery under the command of one of the most ruthless captains to sail the high seas.

Like a phantom dogging Harriet Gray's trail, Frank Sefton is polished, charming-and utterly ruthless. Once, he abandoned the actress to a miserable fate on the far-flung shores of New Zealand. Now, he is back in her life-full of devious schemes to rob and mortify her, far from the protection of Captain Jake Dexter, and his gold-seeking crew. The continuing story of a resourceful young woman making her way under difficult conditions in a dangerous world both at sea and ashore, and her convoluted love affair with Jake Dexter, entrepreneur, treasure-hunter, and pirate. Well told, with interesting detail and appealing characters - Preview Expertly recreates the dizzying days of the California gold rush, where fortunes could be made and lost in the span of a day ... an exhilarating voyage not soon to be forgotten - Cindy Vallar, Pirates and Privateers

This cross-continental journey had proved very pleasant, particularly considering that he was dead. Or so Timothy ironically mused... The year is 1905, and the heyday of Thames, in the goldfields of New Zealand. Back in 1867, Captain Jake Dexter, a flamboyant adventurer and pirate, and his mistress, the actress Harriet Gray, invested the fortune they made during the gold rushes of California and Australia in a theatre and hotel called the Golden Goose, which has become an internationally acclaimed tourist venue, famous for its Murder Mystery Weekends. Guests gather, and a fake murder is staged, and it is up to them to find the killer. But this hugely successful venture is now at great risk. Timothy Dexter, an American of dubious ancestry, threatens the inheritance of the Golden Goose Hotel, and the Gray family gathers to hold a council of war, interrupted when a real murder intervenes. And a young tourist, Cissy Miller, entrusted with a Harlequin costume and a very strange mission, may be the only one to hold the key to the mystery.

Seventeen-year-old orphaned actress, Harriet Gray, wheedles her way on to Captain Jake Dexter's brig Gosling a brig of questionable ownership, whose master is driven by the same promise of conquistador gold that had once drawn Morgan the pirate. If there were dark secrets in the shadows below decks, Harriet had her own surprises for the adventurous crew of the brig. It was no ordinary young woman who had found her way across the seven seas from London to the far side of the world, and she had no ordinary part to play in the voyage of the Gosling toward the beckoning gold ... "Well told, with interesting detail and appealing characters." Preview "Expertly recreates the dizzying days of the California gold rush." Cindy Vallar, Pirates and Privateers

Born at sea and raised on shipboard, adventurous young Abigail Sherman wants nothing more than to be wedded to the ocean for life. Instead, fate conspires against her. Beset by problems with the British administration in New Zealand, her widowed father packs her off to the dour household of relatives in New Bedford, Massachusetts, to learn proper womanly decorum. Arriving on the same day as the momentous news of the discovery of gold in California, Abigail does her best to conform, despite being involved in controversial events, including the Women's Rights movement, and a sensational murder trial. News of her father's brutal murder impels her to escape to South America, where she enters into a marriage of convenience with a strongwilled young whaling captain. Her dowry is the ownership of the brig she grew up on, and a puzzling rhyme that may lead to a fortune. But, before she can return to New Zealand to collect, Abigail must outwit the grumbling seamen of her husband's ship, a mystery murderer, and her own attractive, strangely hostile husband.

As she stood on the deck of the brig Gosling, Harriet Gray was forced to face an unhappy truth. She had been duped, yet again. At eighteen, the lovely English actress had already known more than her share of betrayal. And now, a dishonest shipmaster had stranded her on board a ship that was manned by a lusty, treasure-hunting crew, with a pirate captain whose dangerous smile barely concealed his fury. And whose quest for the dark secret of Judas Island was about to unveil an ancient tragedy...

That the Gosling Company should become a theatrical company was a preposterous idea - as crazy as the actual fact that Captain Jake Dexter, once a respectable Yankee mariner, was now an infamous pirate. Yet, he had already travelled such a long, strange path as a fortune-hunting adventurer that metamorphosing into the manager of the first theatre in Sacramento, California, was just another step. But Jake Dexter could never imagine the danger that this would involve for his actress, Harriet Gray, or that his own life would be so threatened. The nail-biting climax to Jake's hunt for treasure ... and Harriet's search for true love.

Wiki Coffin, linguist aboard the U.S. Exploring Expedition, the famous voyage meant to put America at the forefront of 19th century scientific discovery, brings many skills to his job. Whether he's translating native languages, assisting his good friend Captain George Rochester as unofficial first mate, or upholding the rule of law as deputy to the sheriff of the port of Virginia, Wiki is never far from the action aboard the seven ships that make up the expedition.But when they encounter a wrecked sealing ship and its desperate crew on the shoals of remote, uninhabited Shark Island, Wiki has little idea just how many of his skills are about to be put to the test. As soon as they board the wreck, a dead body turns up with a dagger firmly inserted between its shoulder blades. And it's not just any dead body: the victim of the brutal murder is none other than the enigmatic captain of the doomed voyage. What's more, Wiki's colleague and nemesis Lieutenant Forsythe is suspected of the crime.Knowing full well that Forsythe is capable of such violence, Wiki nonetheless believes him innocent and is duty-bound to prove it for the good of the expedition. Was the murder a case of mutinous sealers taking the law into their own hands? Did the secrets of several mysterious long-ago voyages finally come back to haunt a dishonest and dishonorable captain? Or is Shark Island home to something more sinister than a few lonely goats? Something isn't quite right about the crew of the wrecked ship, and Wiki will stop at nothing to find out just what it is that they're hiding, and, in the process, unmask a vicious killer.

A raging hurricane. A tiny fishing village in a distant land. A London nightclub dancer stumbles into the local clinic with the famous fire-fighter who carried her to New Zealand. The wife of an American shipping tycoon is on board his new luxury yacht as it battles the storm to reach the village. The young wife of a wine-maker struggles through mud, wind and rain to call for help, as her husband has been mortally hurt. All three women are in labor.All three women give birth to baby girls. The clinic is destroyed by the storm, so no records survive. No one knows which baby belongs to which mother.Twenty-one years later, the American billionaire kidnaps all three young women, along with the men who were there when they were born, and takes them to sea on his yacht, convinced that his wife claimed the wrong baby. He is determined to find which girl is really his daughter.But the mega-yacht is old, and breaks down easily. As the strange voyage progresses through tropical Polynesia to New Zealand, crisis after crisis overtakes them. They are being stalked by something malign. Storms arrive and the engines give out. Reefs and shoals threaten. There''s not just a question of identity at stake, but of survival, too.

Using diaries, journals and correspondence the author tells a fascinating story of remarkable men who shipped out as doctors on South Sea whalers in the early nineteenth century.

With her pistols loaded she went aboard And by her side hung a glittering sword In her belt two daggers, well armed for war Was this female smuggler Was this female smuggler who never feared a scar. If a "e;hen frigate"e; was any ship carrying a captain's wife, then a "e;she captain"e; is a bold woman distinguished for courageous enterprise in the history of the sea. "e;She captains,"e; who infamously possessed the "e;bodies of women and the souls of men,"e; thrilled and terrorized their shipmates, doing "e;deeds beyond the valor of women."e; Some were "e;bold and crafty pirates with broadsword in hand."e; Others were sirens, too, like the Valkyria Princess Alfhild, whom the mariners made rover-captain for her beauty. Like their male counterparts, these astonishing women were drawn to the ocean's beauty -- and its danger. In her inimitable, yarn-spinning style, award-winning historian Joan Druett tells us what life was like for the women who dared to captain ships of their own, don pirates' garb, and perform heroic and hellacious deeds on the high seas. We meet Irish raider Grace "e;Grania"e; O'Malley -- sometimes called "e;the bald Grania"e; because she cut her hair short like a boy's -- who commanded three galleys and two hundred fighting men. Female pirates Anne Bonny and Mary Read were wanted by the law. Armed to the teeth with cutlasses and pistols, they inspired awe and admiration as they swaggered about in fancy hats and expensive finery, killing many a man who cowered cravenly before them. Lovelorn Susan "e;Put on a jolly sailor's dress/And daubed her hands with tar/To cross the raging sea/On board a man of war"e; to be near her William. Others disguised themselves for economic reasons. In 1835, Ann Jane Thornton signed on as a ship's steward to earn the fair wage of nine dollars per month. When it was discovered that she was a woman, the captain testified that Jane was a capital sailor, but the crew had been suspicious of her from the start, "e;because she would not drink her grog like a regular seaman."e; In 1838, twenty-two-year-old Grace Darling led the charge to rescue nine castaways from the wreck of the Forfarshire (the Titanic of its day). "e;I'll save the crew!"e; she cried, her courageous pledge immortalized in a torrent of books, songs, and poems. Though "e;she captains"e; had been sailing for hundreds of years by the turn of the twentieth century, Scotswoman Betsey Miller made headlines by weathering "e;storms of the deep when many commanders of the other sex have been driven to pieces on the rocks."e; From the warrior queens of the sixth century B.C. to the women shipowners influential in opening the Northwest Passage, Druett has assembled a real-life cast of characters whose boldness and bravado will capture popular imagination. Following the arc of maritime history from the female perspective, She Captains' intrepid crew sails forth into a sea of adventure.

Tupaia sailed with Captain Cook from Tahiti, piloted the Endeavour about the South Pacific, and was the ship's translator. Lauded by Europeans as an "extraordinary genius," Tupaia was a star navigator, a brilliant orator, and a most devious politician. Being highly skilled in astronomy, navigation and meteorology, and an expert in the geography of the Pacific, he was able to name directional stars and predict landfalls and weather throughout the voyage from Tahiti to Java.Though, like all Polynesians, he had no previous knowledge of writing or map-making, Tupaia drew a chart of the Pacific that encompassed every major group in Polynesia and extended more than 2500 miles from the Marquesas to Rotuma and Fiji.Tupaia also became one of the ship's most important artists, drawing lively pictures to illustrate what he described, and he could justly be called the Pacific's first anthropologist. Despite all these amazing accomplishments, however, Tupaia has never been part of the popular Captain Cook legend.  In Tupaia, Captain Cook's Polynesian Navigator, Joan Druett restores this extraordinary genius to his rightful place in history.WINNER OF THE NEW ZEALAND POST GENERAL NON-FICTION AWARD

Romance and the islands have gone hand-in-hand since the bare-breasted young women of Tahiti gave a rousing welcome to the 18th-century European adventurers who discovered the island. It was not just a tropical port of call that Captain Wallis and his men found, but their tales of golden girls and a majestic island queen became a foundation stone of the Romantic Movement, an enduring inspiration for writers, artists, filmmakers ... mutineers.Joan Druett follows up her prize-winning biography of the remarkable priestly navigator, Tupaia, by bringing this extraordinary story to life.

Auckland Island is a godforsaken place in the middle of the Southern Ocean, 285 miles south of New Zealand. With year-round freezing rain and howling winds, it is one of the most forbidding places in the world. To be shipwrecked there means almost certain death.

Aboard a convoy as the ship's linguist is Wiki. Half New Zealand Maori and half American, Wiki speaks numerous languages and is expected to help the crew navigate the Pacific islands that are his native heritage. But just before departure Wiki, subject to the unfortunate bigotry of the time, is arrested for a vicious murder he didn't commit.