| Author |
Barrett, Andrea |
| Year |
1996 |
| Publisher |
London: Norton |
| Number of pages |
254 |
| Keywords |
|
Abstract
LabLit Summary:
Historic fiction: Do swallows really sleep under water? A collection of short stories
blending history, science and fiction.
Amazon:
In 1764, two Englishwomen set out to prove that swallows--contrary to the great Linnaeus's
belief--do not hibernate underwater. But they must be patient and experiment in secret,
such actions being inappropriate for the female of the species. In 1862, a hopeless
naturalist heads off for yet another journey, though he can't seem to rid his conscience
of the thousands of animals that have already died in his service. In 1971, a pregnant
young woman, ill at ease with her socially superior husband and his stepchildren,
hears of a Tierra del Fuegan taken hostage by the commander of the Beagle in 1835.
This unwilling specimen was, we read, "captured, exiled, re-educated; then returned,
abused by his family, finally re-accepted. Was he happy? Or was he saying that as
a way to spite his captors? Darwin never knew."Many of the characters who populate
Andrea Barrett's National Book Award winning collection, Ship Fever, feel similarly
displaced in the world. They long to prove themselves in both science and love, but
are often thwarted by gender, social position, or the prevailing order. In "The Behaviour
of the Hawkweeds", the wife of a genetics professor has learned that each narrative
of discovery is matched by one, if not more, "in which science is not just unappreciated,
but bent by loneliness and longing." Barrett's astonishing tales of ambition and isolation
convey the meaning and feeling behind the patterns--scientific and emotional--but
slip free of easy closure. The two women in "Rare Bird", like the swallows, depart
England for more conducive climes, or so the brother of one believes. The reader is
left to hope, and imagine. Much has been made of Andrea Barrett's interlacing of history,
knowledge, and fact--and rightly so. But equal attention should be paid to the brilliant
serenity and exactitude of her style. --Kerry Fried
Miscellaneous
Short Stories/Historical Fiction
