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The Saltwater Ledger
A historical novel of the 1849 packet trade
Historical THE SALTWATER LEDGER
Historical
The Saltwater Ledger
A historical novel of the 1849 packet trade
$22.99
1849. A lighthouse keeper's widow decodes her husband's ledgers and uncovers the smuggling ring that sank his ship. A sweeping historical novel of grief, salt, and reckoning. Hardcover, 416 pages.
About this book
Greyport, 1849. Widowed lighthouse keeper's wife Mercy Bell decodes her late husband's shipping ledgers and finds the arithmetic of a lie: the wreck that took his ship was arranged, paid for, and entered twice — once in ink, once in blood.
Armed with nothing but columns of figures and a dead man's handwriting, Mercy follows the money from the lighthouse steps to the counting houses of the packet trade. The Saltwater Ledger is a sweeping historical novel of grief, salt and reckoning — and of a woman who learns that justice, like navigation, is a matter of fixed points.
What’s inside
- First-edition hardcover with deckle-edge pages
- Author's note on the real 1849 packet wrecks behind the story
- Glossary of sail and ledger terms
- Reading-group guide with twelve discussion questions
Read an excerpt
“She had kept his books for eleven years and never once asked what the numbers cost. That night, by lamplight, the ledgers began to answer.”— The Saltwater Ledger by Marlowe Reed
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Signed copies & book-club sets
Planning a reading group or want a signed dedication? Write to Marlowe — signed bookplates and ten-copy club sets ship every Friday.