The Running of the Tide
About this book
The period of Salem's splendor, as home port of the new era of American shipping, is given full portraiture in this vigorous story of the Inmans -- the grandmother, Old Ma'am, dominating and controlling the family fortunes, her daughter-in-law, and the four grandsons,- Dash, temporarily penalized for losing his ship, ""Liz"", grown to captain's estate, but shipping as first mate on the new Victrix, Tom, off at sea when the story opens, and Peter, not strong enough to follow in the family footsteps. A grand tale of men and ships -- and of the women they loved -- and of twisted loyalties and cowardice mistaken for honor, but a tale overlong and overburdened in the telling. The minutiae of life in the days of Jefferson's embargo and Madison's war -- of the women who waited at home and the men who were rootless ashore; of Peter's quixotic shouldering of his brother Dash's brief interlude of romance, in order to save him for Polly, who had an eye on the main chance and worshiped only one person, herself. Good Americana.