Book Journal - The Mapmaker's Wife
Book title: The Mapmaker's Wife*
Author: Robert Whitaker
Genre: NONFICTION (yes, that's a first) - Historical Biography
# of pages: 301
Total pages this year: 32,187
Books this year: 83
Synopsis:
The year is 1735. A decade-long expedition to South America is launched by a team of French scientists racing to measure the circumference of the earth and to reveal the mysteries of a little-known continent to a world hungry for discovery and knowledge. From this extraordinary journey arose an unlikely love between one scientist and a beautiful Peruvian noblewoman. Victims of a tangled web of international politics, Jean Godin and Isabel Gramesón’s destiny would ultimately unfold in the Amazon’s unforgiving jungles, and it would be Isabel’s quest to reunite with Jean after a calamitous twenty-year separation that would capture the imagination of all of eighteenth-century Europe. A remarkable testament to human endurance, female resourcefulness, and enduring love, Isabel Gramesón’s survival remains unprecedented in the annals of Amazon exploration.
book_fairy rating: ****1/2 (out of five stars) - I know I should, but I just DON'T read non-fiction. Strangely enough, I actually purchased this book for myself. It was on the B&N 3 for 2 table - I'm pretty sure it was the 3rd book to two Jane Austen related books. I thought the cover was pretty and I felt a connection with the title (with Peter being uber-interested in maps of any sort) and it kinda sounded like a romance and it was gonna be free, so what the hell!
It wasn't a romance. But it was very good - funny, informative, and overall extremely interesting. It recounts the story of a group of French researchers who were out to measure the latitude & longitude at the Equator thereby solving an arguement about the earth's shape. The core of the story is the 10 year expedition itself as well as the 25 year struggle of one particular member - Jean Godin - and his wife, Isabelle Grameson to build a family and return to Godin's homeland of France. There's lots of background about the history of Ecuador (Spanish conquistadors, etc) and the discoveries about the terrain, flora & fauna of the Peruvian mountains and the Amazonian jungles, and so much more. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this, though it did take some more careful reading than I'm used to. :-) All in all, I'm going to have to keep a look out for some other good non-fiction to add to my reading queue. :-)
*This book actually finished on Dec 5th.
Author: Robert Whitaker
Genre: NONFICTION (yes, that's a first) - Historical Biography
# of pages: 301
Total pages this year: 32,187
Books this year: 83
Synopsis:
The year is 1735. A decade-long expedition to South America is launched by a team of French scientists racing to measure the circumference of the earth and to reveal the mysteries of a little-known continent to a world hungry for discovery and knowledge. From this extraordinary journey arose an unlikely love between one scientist and a beautiful Peruvian noblewoman. Victims of a tangled web of international politics, Jean Godin and Isabel Gramesón’s destiny would ultimately unfold in the Amazon’s unforgiving jungles, and it would be Isabel’s quest to reunite with Jean after a calamitous twenty-year separation that would capture the imagination of all of eighteenth-century Europe. A remarkable testament to human endurance, female resourcefulness, and enduring love, Isabel Gramesón’s survival remains unprecedented in the annals of Amazon exploration.
book_fairy rating: ****1/2 (out of five stars) - I know I should, but I just DON'T read non-fiction. Strangely enough, I actually purchased this book for myself. It was on the B&N 3 for 2 table - I'm pretty sure it was the 3rd book to two Jane Austen related books. I thought the cover was pretty and I felt a connection with the title (with Peter being uber-interested in maps of any sort) and it kinda sounded like a romance and it was gonna be free, so what the hell!
It wasn't a romance. But it was very good - funny, informative, and overall extremely interesting. It recounts the story of a group of French researchers who were out to measure the latitude & longitude at the Equator thereby solving an arguement about the earth's shape. The core of the story is the 10 year expedition itself as well as the 25 year struggle of one particular member - Jean Godin - and his wife, Isabelle Grameson to build a family and return to Godin's homeland of France. There's lots of background about the history of Ecuador (Spanish conquistadors, etc) and the discoveries about the terrain, flora & fauna of the Peruvian mountains and the Amazonian jungles, and so much more. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this, though it did take some more careful reading than I'm used to. :-) All in all, I'm going to have to keep a look out for some other good non-fiction to add to my reading queue. :-)
*This book actually finished on Dec 5th.