Melville in Love: The Secret Life of Herman Melville and the Muse of Moby-Dick
(Adobe EPUB eBook, Kindle Book, OverDrive Read)
A new account of Herman Melville and the writing of Moby-Dick, written by a Pulitzer Prize finalist in Biography and based on fresh archival research, which reveals that the anarchic spirit animating Melville’s canonical work was inspired by his great love affair with a shockingly unconventional married woman.
Herman Melville’s epic novel, Moby-Dick, was a spectacular failure when it was published in 1851, effectively ending its author’s rise to literary fame. Because he was neglected by academics for so long, and because he made little effort to preserve his legacy, we know very little about Melville, and even less about what he called his “wicked book.” Scholars still puzzle over what drove Melville to invent Captain Ahab's mad pursuit of the great white whale.
In Melville in Love Pulitzer Prize-finalist Michael Shelden sheds light on this literary mystery to tell a story of Melville’s passionate, obsessive, and clandestine affair with a married woman named Sarah Morewood, whose libertine impulses encouraged and sustained Melville’s own. In his research, Shelden discovered unexplored documents suggesting that, in their shared resistance to the “iron rule” of social conformity, Sarah and Melville had forged an illicit and enduring romantic and intellectual bond. Emboldened by the thrill of courting Sarah in secret, the pleasure of falling in love, and the excitement of spending time with literary luminaries—like Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes and Nathaniel Hawthorne—Melville found the courage to take the leap from light works of adventure to the hugely brilliant, utterly subversive Moby-Dick.
Filled with the rich detail and immense drama of Melville’s secret life, Melville in Love tells the gripping story of how one of our greatest novelists found his muse.
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Michael Shelden. (2016). Melville in Love: The Secret Life of Herman Melville and the Muse of Moby-Dick. HarperCollins.
Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation (style guide)Michael Shelden. 2016. Melville in Love: The Secret Life of Herman Melville and the Muse of Moby-Dick. HarperCollins.
Chicago / Turabian - Humanities Citation (style guide)Michael Shelden, Melville in Love: The Secret Life of Herman Melville and the Muse of Moby-Dick. HarperCollins, 2016.
MLA Citation (style guide)Michael Shelden. Melville in Love: The Secret Life of Herman Melville and the Muse of Moby-Dick. HarperCollins, 2016.
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Michael Shelden is the author of five biographies, including the Pulitzer Prize finalist Orwell: The Authorized Biography, which was also a New York Times Notable Book and has been translated into five languages. His Mark Twain: Man in White was a New York Times bestseller, and his Young Titan: The Making of Winston Churchill was widely praised on both sides of the Atlantic. He was a features writer for the London Daily Telegraph, served as a fiction critic for the Baltimore Sun, and has written for the Washington Post and the Times of London. He lives in Bloomington, Indiana.
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A new account of Herman Melville and the writing of Moby-Dick, written by a Pulitzer Prize finalist in Biography and based on fresh archival research, which reveals that the anarchic spirit animating Melville’s canonical work was inspired by his great love affair with a shockingly unconventional married woman.
Herman Melville’s epic novel, Moby-Dick, was a spectacular failure when it was published in 1851, effectively ending its author’s rise to literary fame. Because he was neglected by academics for so long, and because he made little effort to preserve his legacy, we know very little about Melville, and even less about what he called his “wicked book.” Scholars still puzzle over what drove Melville to invent Captain Ahab's mad pursuit of the great white whale.
In Melville in Love Pulitzer Prize-finalist Michael Shelden sheds light on this literary mystery to tell a story of Melville’s passionate, obsessive, and clandestine affair with a married woman named Sarah Morewood, whose libertine impulses encouraged and sustained Melville’s own. In his research, Shelden discovered unexplored documents suggesting that, in their shared resistance to the “iron rule” of social conformity, Sarah and Melville had forged an illicit and enduring romantic and intellectual bond. Emboldened by the thrill of courting Sarah in secret, the pleasure of falling in love, and the excitement of spending time with literary luminaries—like Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes and Nathaniel Hawthorne—Melville found the courage to take the leap from light works of adventure to the hugely brilliant, utterly subversive Moby-Dick.
Filled with the rich detail and immense drama of Melville’s secret life, Melville in Love tells the gripping story of how one of our greatest novelists found his muse.
- reviews
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- source: The Washington Post
- content: "A proto-feminist woman of letters, impresario and poet in her own right, Morewood strikes us in Shelden's account as a person of imagination and courage straining against the socially imposed constrictions of her time."
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- source: New York Journal of Books
- content: "A masterpiece. . . . He visually escorts the reader into the mindset and emotional life of one of the most renowned literary giants. Without a doubt this biography is capable of captivating generations of readers and writers[and] inspir[ing] them to pursue their own creative endeavors."
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- content: "Riveting in its incandescent sense of discovery, intimacy, and velocity, Shelden's bound-to-be-controversial anatomy of a clandestine love transforms our perception of Melville and introduces "one of the great unsung figures in literary history."
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- source: Publishers Weekly
- content: "Written with novelistic period detail and peopled with convincingly reanimated historical characters... The book is an engaging and creative recreation."
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- source: Kenyon Review
- content: "Melville in Love is another masterwork by Shelden in the field of biography. Coupling diligent forensic scholarship with melodious narrative prose, he has discovered something new about an American author for whom the study of his life has turned into a minor industry of its own."
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- source: Library Journal
- content: "A scandalous surprise... Shelden carefully and convincingly presents his evidence regarding Morewood's influence and how she inspired Melville to a greatness recognized by few of his peers... This well-paced, enjoyable read is a must for Melville fans."
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- content: "Outstanding."
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April 4, 2016
Shelden (Pulitzer finalist for Orwell: The Authorized Biography) theorizes, skillfully but unconvincingly, that Herman Melville had an affair with his next-door neighbor, Sarah Morewood, in Pittsfield, Mass. Morewood, who like Melville was married, was well known for her wit and beauty. Focusing on the years from 1850 to 1852, Shelden posits her as Melville’s great love, and describes their relationship as a guiding force in the creation of Moby-Dick and even a factor in its tepid original reception from critics. Written with novelistic period detail and peopled with convincingly reanimated historical characters, this short book nonetheless feels overextended. The middle portion departs from the central relationship as Morewood goes off to England and Melville hunkers down to finish Moby-Dick, published in 1851. Shelden uses this interlude to explore painter J.M.W. Turner‘s influence on Moby-Dick and Melville’s friendship with Nathaniel Hawthorne. Although Shelden claims to have found a “long trail of clues” about Melville and Morewood’s connection, his argument relies too heavily on inference, interpretation, and literary exegesis. A costume party, a Christmas dinner laurel ceremony, and a scandalous mixed-sex camping excursion are all scoured for any telling details. The book is an engaging and creative recreation, but the accuracy of Shelden’s conclusions remains suspect.
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May 1, 2016
What a scandalous surprise author Shelden's (Orwell: The Authorized Biography) biography will be for anyone who thinks of Herman Melville as just a stately old man with a bushy beard. Using newly discovered archival materials, Shelden relates the adulterous love affair between Melville and Sarah Morewood. He suggests both Moby-Dick and Pierre were heavily influenced by the 19th-century novelist's relationship with Morewood. The courtship was suspected by most and acknowledged by none. Both Melville and Morewood were married during their long-term affair that produced two children and sunk Melville deep into debt in order to be near his mistress. Morewood's early death from consumption sent Melville into a spiral of grief and depression that came close to ruining his family. Shelden carefully and convincingly presents his evidence regarding Morewood's influence and how she inspired Melville to a greatness recognized by few of his peers. The boldness of the lovers is shocking as are the repercussions. Endnotes and a thorough bibliography support Shelden's research and offer further avenues of exploration. VERDICT Written for a general audience, this well-paced, enjoyable read is a must for Melville fans.--Stefanie Hollmichel, Univ. of St. Thomas Law Lib., Minneapolis
Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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Herman Melville’s epic novel, Moby-Dick, was a spectacular failure when it was published in 1851, effectively ending its author’s rise to literary fame. Because he was neglected by academics for so long, and because he made little effort to preserve his legacy, we know very little about Melville, and even less about what he called his “wicked book.” Scholars still puzzle over what drove Melville to invent Captain Ahab's mad pursuit of the great white whale.
In Melville in Love Pulitzer Prize-finalist Michael Shelden sheds light on this literary mystery to tell a story of Melville’s passionate,...
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