"A fast-paced, gripping story set in a world of gruesome violence and perversity, where 'why?' is not a question and murder happens on a whim: but where a very faint ray of grace and hope lights up the landscape of salt and blood and ice. A tour de force of narrative tension and a masterful reconstruction of a lost world that seems to exist at the limits of the human imagination." —Hilary Mantel

“This is a novel that takes us to the limits of flesh and blood. Utterly convincing and compelling, remorselessly vivid, and insidiously witty, The North Water is a startling achievement.” —Martin Amis

A nineteenth-century whaling ship sets sail for the Arctic with a killer aboard in this dark, sharp, and highly original tale that grips like a thriller.

Behold the man: stinking, drunk, and brutal. Henry Drax is a harpooner on the Volunteer, a Yorkshire whaler bound for the rich hunting waters of the arctic circle. Also aboard for the first time is Patrick Sumner, an ex-army surgeon with a shattered reputation, no money, and no better option than to sail as the ship's medic on this violent, filthy, and ill-fated voyage.

In India, during the Siege of Delhi, Sumner thought he had experienced the depths to which man can stoop. He had hoped to find temporary respite on the Volunteer, but rest proves impossible with Drax on board. The discovery of something evil in the hold rouses Sumner to action. And as the confrontation between the two men plays out amid the freezing darkness of an arctic winter, the fateful question arises: who will survive until spring?

With savage, unstoppable momentum and the blackest wit, The North Water weaves a superlative story of humanity under the most extreme conditions.

[英]伊恩·麦奎尔（Ian McGuire）

成长于英国赫尔市，毕业于曼彻斯特大学和弗吉尼亚大学，是曼彻斯特大学创意写作中心的创始人兼副院长。小说曾发表于《芝加哥评论》《巴黎评论》等。他的首部小说是《难以置信的身体》（Incredible Bodies）。《北海鲸梦》是伊恩・麦奎尔的第二本小说，他擅长描写声音和气味，不论是捕鲸猎熊、开刀验尸，以及船员的南腔北调，都让人身临其境，写实程度不输给奥斯卡大赢家《荒野猎人》。