The Mathematician's Journey

The icy world of Captain Henry Hudson, doomed 17th century Arctic explorer, comes alive in Anthony Dalton’s compelling novel. Narrated by Thomas Woodhouse, a young mathematician and sailor, we meet his English family and a lady friend. He discusses the important events in early 17th century England, he takes us with him to Oxford University and he shares his passion for the Arctic. Signed on board Hudson’s expedition ship Discovery for a voyage to find the North-West Passage, Thomas works with a disparate crew and experiences the erratic mind of their commanding officer. Discovery’s crew mutiny and cast their captain and a few loyal followers adrift, including Thomas. The only survivor of a storm that takes the lives of his fellow sailors, Thomas lives for the next two and a half decades with a native tribe of hunter-gatherers on the shores of James Bay – and he meets the love of his life. Consumed by curiosity about the fate of the mutineers in his later years, Thomas returns to England to find disappointing results – and the arms of his first love. Thomas’s adventurous story ranges across southern England, the Atlantic Ocean, the sub-Arctic, the wilderness forests of eastern Canada and part of old France.