Rush Oh!

In this debut novel from Australian screenwriter and director Barrett, a fictional daughter of New South Wales historic whaler George “Fearless” Davidson recounts the tumultuous events of 1908. Nineteen-year-old Mary is in charge of caring for her five motherless siblings, but also cooking for the whalers. John Beck, a former Methodist minister, joins Davidson’s crew and takes an interest in Mary. It turns out to be a disastrously poor whaling season until one late season catch when “the Killers”—cooperative orcas the Aborigines greet as reincarnated ancestors—help the men capture a 50-foot whale. Mary, writing 30 years later, pieces events together from what little she observes and the men’s reports—a device that gives her rip-roaring account a realistic touch. This same distance, however, sucks energy from the more climactic scenes. Digressive sections on rendering whale blubber into oil and Uncle Aleck taking a dip in a rotting carcass to cure rheumatism inevitably “invite comparisons with Mr. Melville that will not be flattering,” as Mary herself recognizes; but Barrett isn’t trying to be Melville. Instead, this unusual domestic look at whaling life is filled with evocative, briny descriptions, humorous set pieces, and newspaper extracts that come together nicely to create an intimate, wry story of one tumultuous year on the seas. Agent: Grace Heifetz, Curtis Brown Australia. (Mar.)