Author(s): Robert Holden

Fiction

In the tradition of Moby Dick, this historical account of Captain William Chamberlain, who as a seven-year-old boy was abducted from the shores of Sydney Harbour, features all the tragedy, terror and high adventure of a classic work of fiction. Set against the colour, adventure and vibrancy of 19th-century Australia, The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea is the unique life story of Captain William Chamberlain, from childhood through the adventures of his early life, following his rescue, during his brief period of service in the Royal Navy at the Battle of Algiers, and on his return home to Sydney in 1816. Much of his adult life was spent as a whaling captain in Tasmania before tragedy stuck once again in 1856, when his young son was murdered by a convict. We also meet Captain Alexander Bodie, charged with abducting Chamberlain from Sydney Cove on his whaling ship in 1811, who provides a real-life parallel with Captain Ahab, the insane whaling captain enshrined in the pages of Herman Melville