The Passages of H.M.

Middlebury College professor Parini (The Last Station) richly imagines the tumultuous life of Herman Melville, alternating between the voices of the great novelist and of his wife, Lizzie. Born in Manhattan in 1819, H.M., as he was known, joined the crew of a freighter, and the sea became his classroom; his seafaring experiences would someday be carved into America's literary canon. Not only did Melville gain knowledge of the world and the water, but his travels to exotic Pacific islands offered a degree of sexual liberty not generally found in 19th-century New England. Returning home forever changed, he attempted to settle into a life of domestic tranquility, although, as the narrative reveals, he often became hopelessly enamored of men. Melville obsessed over his epic whaling story, Moby-Dick, and was devastated when it met with little public interest. Not until more than 30 years after it was published, near the end of Melville's life, did his great novel begin to gain the respect it deserved.