Daughters of Nantucket

The gorgeous cover of Daughters of Nantucket caught my attention. The compelling story held it.

Daughters of Nantucket is set on the island of Nantucket in 1846, shortly before the great fire that devastated the community that summer. We meet three women that live on Nantucket, each dealing with her own issues: Eliza Macy, financially strapped wife of a whaling captain who's gone more often than he's ashore; Meg Wright, a free Black woman hoping to build a business with her husband and a better future for her children; and Maria Mitchell, curator of the Atheneum, who's wrestling with her sexuality and her single status.

The three women's lives intersect in ways both positive and negative as the story unfolds. Eliza is barely hanging on financially. Her husband Henry has been at sea chasing whales for years, and the bank is threatening foreclosure. That's why she speaks out against the Wrights buying a building for their new shop close to where her daughter-in-law and son have a shop of their own. Or that's what Eliza tells herself. Meg will soon be giving birth to a baby that she prays will survive more than ten days. She is weary from being in the last stage of pregnancy and weary of fighting racism in this place that talks a good game about freedom and equality, but doesn't back the talk up with actions. Maria has dedicated her life to intellectual pursuits because she's attracted to women, and she knows that won't square with what's acceptable in society.

But disaster changes everything, and on July 13, 1846, disaster struck. A fire broke out in the business district, in the heart of town. In the heat of summer, with buildings made of flammable materials, the fire spread quickly and decimated Nantucket. The three women find themselves thrown together, trying to decide what really matters and what can – and should – be saved.

When I started this story, I thought Eliza was a stuck-up cow. The way she treated Meg in particular was pretty awful, and it didn't seem like there was anything likable about her. But as her story unfolded, she became more sympathetic. It still didn't excuse her actions at the start, but she was the character who showed the most growth. When it mattered, she did the right thing, and she tried to learn from her mistakes.

Maria and Meg are also wonderfully drawn characters. Maria has left the Quaker faith that her parents still hold, and she isn't interested in getting married because she isn't interested in men. She's dedicated her life to her astronomy and to the Atheneum and the educational opportunities it offers the town. But will the beautiful Linley Blake be the one to win Maria's heart? Meg wants better for her children, and when the supposedly anti-slavery/freedom for all Nantucketers decide to once again segregate the schools, Meg knows she can't stand for that. She makes a plan and takes action to right a major wrong. Her plans are bumped off track by the fire, but the book leaves you with the impression that those plans are just delayed, not stopped.

I didn't know anything about the Nantucket fire of 1846. I learned a lot in reading the story, both about the fire and about the whaling industry during that time. I had never really thought about how a community that's on an island, thirty miles out to sea, would deal with the destruction of almost all of their food, building supplies, businesses. How do they rebuild? It was interesting to consider (and no doubt a terrifying situation to live through).

I highly recommend Daughters of Nantucket if you want a well written work of historical fiction about a time period that isn't often depicted in stories. I also recommend for anyone who appreciates strong female characters who will make you want to hug them and shake them and cheer for them in turn.