Travel to South America

The Mapmaker's Wife: A True Tale of Love, Murder, and Survival in the Amazon

Format: Paperback
Author: Robert Whitaker
ReleaseDate: 28 December, 2004
Publisher: Delta
Rating:

Boring
Didn't finish it. Started out okay with the promise of interesting characters, but just got dull and wordy. Maybe more enjoyable for a South-American history buff.

Fresh Perspective on History
However, I was pleasantly surprised by a nonfiction story woven from documents, letters, and research. When my friend passed this book on to me, I was expecting a historical novel with dialogue and romance. I have always loved maps and been intrigued with how early naturalists figured out details about nature, so this book was a page-turner for me. I couldn't put it down. It was amazing what this team endured to collect data for information that we learn in elementary school today. It also gives insight and context to some of modern day political and social issues. .

Fascinating view of life in South America in the 16th C
This often happens to those taken in by marketing ploys to sell reality history books to the general novel-reading public. People looking for a historical romance novel will be dissapointed.

Truth is stranger, and more interesting, than fiction. Other reviewers have already given a lot of details. I will say that the part toward the end dealing with the main female character's trip down the Amazon is completely amazing and unbelievable. What people went through to travel back then or even just to deliver a letter!

The only place the book bogged down for me a bit was in the details regarding the cartographic measurements that the French scientists made in Ecuador. This is a minor point. The rest is fascinating. For those interested in the real thing; well-written, readable history, this is it!

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