Kelley Library

The mapmaker's wife, a true tale of love, murder, and survival in the Amazon, Robert Whitaker

eng

Includes bibliographical references (p. 329-337) and index

individual biography

index present

non fiction

The mapmaker's wife

bibliography

41380953939230

Robert Whitaker

Accelerated Reader AR, UG, 9.4, 17.0, 81084.

a true tale of love, murder, and survival in the Amazon

In the early years of the 18th century, a band of French scientists set off on a daring, decade-long expedition to South America in a race to measure the precise shape of the earth. Like Lewis and Clark's exploration of the American West, their incredible mission revealed the mysteries of a little-known continent to a world hungry for discovery. Scaling 16,000 foot mountains in the Peruvian Andes, and braving jaguars, pumas, insects, and vampire bats in the jungle, the scientists barely completed their mission. One was murdered, another perished from fever, and a third-Jean Godin-nearly died of heartbreak. At the expedition's end, Jean and his Peruvian wife, Isabel Grames?n, became stranded at opposite ends of the Amazon, victims of a tangled web of international politics. Isabel's solo journey to reunite with Jean after their calamitous twenty-year separation was so dramatic that it left all of 18th-century Europe spellbound. Her survival-unprecedented in the annals of Amazon exploration-was a testament to human endurance, female resourcefulness, and the power of devotion. Drawing on the original writings of the French mapmakers, as well as his own experience retracing Isabel's journey, acclaimed writer Robert Whitaker weaves a riveting tale rich in adventure, intrigue, and scientific achievement. Never before told, The Mapmaker's Wife is an epic love story that unfolds against the backdrop of "the greatest expedition the world has ever known."

A Sunday in 1769 -- Not quite round -- A daughter of Peru -- The mapmakers -- Voyage to Quito -- Measuring the baseline -- High-altitude science -- Death in the afternoon -- Marriage in Quito -- Down the Amazon -- A continent apart -- Lost on the Bobonaza -- Into the jungle -- Deliverance -- Saint Amand