Landfalls

By: Naomi J. Williams

Narrated by: Christopher Lane

The gripping story of a dramatic eighteenth-century voyage of discovery

In her wildly inventive debut novel, Naomi Williams reimagines the historical La Pérouse expedition, a voyage of exploration that left Brest in 1785 with two frigates, 200 men, and overblown Enlightenment ideals and expectations, in a brave attempt to circumnavigate the globe for science and the glory of France.

Deeply grounded in historical fact but refracted through a powerful imagination, Landfalls follows the exploits and heartbreaks not only of the men on the ships but also of the people affected by the voyage - natives and other Europeans the explorers encountered, loved ones left waiting at home, and those who survived and remembered the expedition later. Each chapter is told from a different point of view and is set in a different part of the world - ranging from London to Alaska, from remote South Pacific islands to Siberia, and eventually back to France. The result is a beautifully written and absorbing tale of the high seas, scientific exploration, human tragedy, and the world on the cusp of the modern era.

By turns elegiac, profound, and comic, Landfalls reinvents the maritime adventure novel for the 21st century.

©2015 Naomi J. Williams (P)2015 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Strange Story

Never really understood. Is this history based on fiction or fiction based on history. The main item I gained was "do not go on a exploration voyage with the French". Mildly interesting story. But specifics are doubtful. And the conclusion leaves me either wondering what happened or what was intended with the ending. One main negative is the narrator. Great diction and well spoken. But the accent is a major distraction. The book is in English. So why narrator the entire book with a French accent. This did nothing for me. I will not read this again to pick up the parts I missed. Not worth the effort.