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Summary: I loved this book!
Review: The wonder of living on a light house island, that young women have inquisitive minds, that well read men were sailors, too and that women are ultimately more adaptable than men are just some of the themes touched on in this wonderful novel. I, like many others, was sorry to finish the book and to quiet my friendship with Una. It was a wonderful life journey we shared and Una was such a real character, I can hardly imagine that she didn't exist.
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Summary: A Much Needed Tale of the Human Experience.
Review: A much needed tale of the Human Experience. I have to say that it was cleverly written, and a true art in literature. If you ever needed a literary experience, then reading "Ahab's Wife", would grant you your need. The words flowed easily, and brought to me a wonderful insight into the history of the world back in the 1800's. I recommend this Novel to everyone interested in the written word. Especially, those who love Shakespeare and many other great writers.
Rating: 
Summary: Liked About 444 of the 666 Pages
Review: AHABS WIFE kept me attentively turning all 666 pages.... The book is no MOBY DICK ...though the aforesaid reviewer may not know Melville forged his own, probably deeper kind of rebellion. But I appreciated Naslund showing another dimension to the characters created by Melville, as observed by a woman. I also appreciated her ability to tell a gripping story -- at least for the first two-thirds or three-quarters of the narrative. The weaknesses: Naslund leaves strings untied; for example, we never know the manner of death of the some of the men who were adrift on the boat with Una and her two companions, though we know the creepy aftermath; therefore we are left with all that unresolved dark stuff. Then there was Kit...Another problem is that although Naslund has done ample research, and supplies rich details about the material day-to-day life of 19th Century Americans, when she gets inside the heads of the characters, she often forgets they live in that time rather than in ours... especially in the final (and weakest) sections of the novel. In those disappointing moments, she descends to the level of a 19th-Century soap opera (as Jean Auel, another conscientious researcher, did for the Stone Age), with a leviathan-sized dose of well-intentioned but artistically sterile moralizing.
Rating: 
Summary: Seduced and disappointed
Review: I was seduced into reading this book by the many positive reviews, and by a yearning to relive my joy of reading Moby Dick many years ago in high school. For the past two weeks I've gone from savoring the language and intriguing story of Ahab's Wife to skimming through the final 150 pages, impatient for it to be finally over. Ms. Naslund's blatant feminist agenda is rivaled only by that of Jean Auel, who attributed everything but the invention of the Internet to her Cromagnon heroine, Ayla. Una and her entourage are ultimately implausible as characters, standing more as icons for Ms. Naslund's beliefs. Ahab is the most human character of all, and I'll soon revisit him in his original incarnation.
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Summary: A Magical journey
Review: This is a BIG read-a fairytale for grownups.Adolescent Una is wisely sent to live with her mothers sister,in a lighthouse,to avoid the increasing possibility of abuse by her father,a religious fanatic. She spends four happy years with them before running away to sea,disguised as a boy,with two young men to whom she is equally attracted.This book is the story of her three marriages,the second of which is to Captain Ahab,a whaler and declared mortal enemy of Moby Dick,the great white whale. We follow Una through tragedies,joys,the loss of two husbands and a baby,to where she finally reaches true happiness and fulfillment. The book is peopled with an assortment of fascinating characters,and M/s Naslund paints incredibly beautiful and vivid word pictures of Nantucket and both the beauty and horror of living in a coastal town with all it's connections to the barbarities of the whaling trade.
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Summary: The Guilt of a 60s Rebel
Review: It wasn't very far into this book that it became clear it was written by a rebel child of the 1960s trying to create a historical character that would transfer the evils and selfishness that linger today in American society to origins in an earlier time. Claim the damage done by her generation already existed. Blame it on slavery, or lack of opportunities for women. The problem is, all Naslund manages to do in this book is reinforce her own generation's guilt. Almost all of Una's actions convey contempt for God and/or Christianity and a reverence for humanism. Even as she desensitizes herself to the evil acts around her, and later in her guilt over a terrible deed, she turns to blaming love and forgiveness and embracing the ways of the lost. I feel pity for the author. She writes of Una's Christian father as some sort of devil incarnate, while the rest of her 'openminded' family are written with utmost love and sympathy - justification for the author's own life of self-focus but unhappiness? I could almost feel Naslund's desperation screaming from each page. Truly sad, and even more sadly, a waste of time.
Rating:
Summary: Perfect! Unputdownable!!!
Review: I enjoyed this spectacular novel so much I didn't want it to end. It was refreshing to read a sea adventure through the eyes of a woman! I wished it had been a thousand pages. A great book takes you completely outside of yourself, makes you forget what day it is, what time it is and all of your troubles and cares. Reading this book was as refreshing as a week long vacation.
Rating:
Summary: A take-you-away type of yarn!
Review: Although at times the main character seemed a bit hard to understand in her choices and ambiguity, I was committed to continue with her in her journey through her unusual life. I found I never wanted to put the book down. Naslund's rich language drew me in, placing me high in the lighthouse and crow's nest, in desperation on the raft, or wandering the beach. The relationships were complex (if sometimes a bit shallow), but I found it interesting watching the changes in the tortured Ahab - not that hard to imagine. If you read for escape, then this is indeed a yarn that will carry you away.
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Summary: Not a Classic
Review: this book begins in a small town on the coast of Canada, the tale is about a lesbian woman who is awaiting her lover from the cold seas, sort of like a biblical version of 'job'. I read this thinking it was as classic as Moby Dick but I was wrong and paid dearly for that mistake, this author has no idea what she is doing, she moves back and forth btwn time and places which only leave the reader disturbed and annoyed.
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Summary: A great story on relationships
Review: To highlight one small aspect of this novel, the author does a wonderful job of portraying many positive relationships throughout the course of the novel. Although there are some relationships in the novel that have conflicts, the depiction of mother / daughter, father "figure" / daughter, female friendships, business partnerships, teacher / student, boss / employee, and husband / wife (or partner / partner) are generally strong, open, and powerful. Throughout the book, the compassion and devotion the character exhibits within these relationships is at times to a fault, but is generally something to be admired. Granted, this is a small component to a book with many facets. However, I found that this relationship theme was fascinating and added tremendous depth to each of the characters.
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