To the Edge of the World: A Perilous Storm, A Mutinous Crew and the Woman Who Defied Them All
By: Tilar J. Mazzeo
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A BBC RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK
One woman. One ship. One astonishing true story.
‘Hear the wind whistle through the ropes, taste the salt spray and feel the roll of the ship…. A true-life epic.’ Peter Fretwell, author of Antarctic Atlas
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Summer 1856. Nineteen-year-old Mary Ann Patten and her husband, Joshua, are young and ambitious. Both from New England seafaring families, they have already completed their first global voyage with Joshua as captain. Their dream of building a home and a family is almost within reach, but the price of that freedom is one last dangerous transit – a high-stakes race to deliver supplies to the other side of the country. And there is no alternative but to sail all the way around.
Yet as their ship leaves New York, navigating towards the jagged coastline of South America, Joshua falls sick, confined to his bunk and delirious. The treacherous first mate is imprisoned in the brig for insubordination. With no obvious option for a new captain, Mary Ann steps up to take the helm. Within days, she has put down a mutiny. Now she must attempt to steer this 216-foot ship, laden with the modern equivalent of $11 million of cargo, through Drake’s Passage and around Cape Horn – the most treacherous waters in the world.
To the Edge of the World is the true story of one woman who, when faced with impossible odds, would do all that was necessary to survive.
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‘In all non-fiction maritime literature, this is a story without parallel.’ Mensun Bound, author of The Ship Beneath the Ice
‘What a breathtaking journey! A spellbinding triumph of storytelling.’ Marie Benedict, author of The Queens of Crime
‘An epic tale of courage, fortitude, and grit.’ Siddharth Kara, author of The Zorg
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‘What a breathtaking journey! The perilous ship race, the treacherous weather, a mutinous uprising, the life-threatening illness of the captain, and most of all, the heroic efforts of his wife, Mary Ann Patten, as she steps into his shoes to become the first female captain to traverse the Southern Ocean, all while pregnant… A spellbinding triumph of storytelling and rewriting a valiant woman back into the historical narrative where she belongs. Everyone should read this book!’
- Marie Benedict, New York Times bestselling author of The Queens of Crime -
‘An epic tale of courage, fortitude, and grit, brilliantly narrated in this deeply researched and compelling account.’
- Siddharth Kara, Pulitzer Prize finalist and New York Times bestselling author of Cobalt Red and The Zorg -
‘Mary Ann, the captain’s wife, nineteen and pregnant, is forced to take over her husband’s ship mid-voyage. With no training, equipped only with nautical almanacs and how-to guides for sea navigation, and facing off a mutiny, she decides to put her cards on the table. The crew responds by anointing her their captain. It is the mid-1800s, and they are sailing straight into a monumental storm. Tilar J. Mazzeo has written a riveting story about a woman we might otherwise never know, and brilliantly sets it within a larger history about the upward mobility and wealth that the seas offered–and just as quickly took away. A fantastic read!’
- Paulina Bren, author of She-Wolves: The Untold History of Women on Wall Street and The Barbizon: The Hotel that Set Women Free -
‘Once an international sensation, then slipping into the mist of history, the story of nineteen-year-old Mary Ann Patten’s remarkable feat of seamanship has been rescued and brought to vivid life […] and powerfully informed by Mazzeo’s own consummate knowledge of the sea.’
- Caroline Alexander, author of The Endurance and The Bounty -
‘Expertly weaves together a touching love story and a gripping tale of survival. Mazzeo explores how passion, endurance, and a devoted partnership can overcome the odds, even in the most isolated and desperate circumstances. Through meticulous research and vivid descriptions, Mazzeo reveals how Mary Ann Patton’s unwavering perseverance and brilliant navigation prevailed against the most formidable obstacles.’
- Lydia Reeder, author of The Cure for Women -
‘A beautifully researched, evocative adventure of the high seas. In Mary Ann, unexpectedly called to lead, Tilar Mazzeo has found a true hero of the sea and brought her into vivid focus.’
- Wyl Menmuir, author of The Draw of the Sea -
‘Hear the wind whistle through the ropes, taste the salt spray and feel the roll of the ship as Tilar Mazzeo takes us into the tempest in the depths of the Southern Ocean. In this true-life epic, a young woman rises above convention and the elements to save ship, cargo, crew and her husband.’
- Peter Fretwell, author of Antarctic Atlas -
‘Forged upon the anvil of Cape Horn, this is a story that embraces all the time-tested bromides of men at sea: leadership, nautical knowhow, unyielding resolve and, above all, raw courage. But it is not about weathered old shellbacks, it’s about a nineteen-year-old “slip of a girl” who takes command of a clipper ship when her husband, the captain, collapses from tuberculosis during a storm off the continental tip of South America. In all nonfiction maritime literature, this is a story without parallel. I was spellbound to the last page. It captures everything that draws us to the sea.’
- Mensun Bound, author of The Ship Beneath the Ice: The Discovery of Shackleton’s Endurance -
‘This thriller of a maritime history hooked me from the opening page, thanks to Mazzeo’s enthralling writing and research, which took her to Cape Horn and Antarctica to acquaint herself first-hand with the territory of this remarkable story … Mazzeo beautifully brings alive the raw courage of all seafarers in those under-sail times.’
- Caroline Sanderson, The Bookseller -
‘An incredibly thrilling slice of maritime history, To the Edge of the World tells the true story of Mary Ann Patten who after her captain husband fell sick steered a clipper ship with immensely valuable cargo through the most treacherous waters in the world.’
- Waterstones