Title: Death to Moby Dick: A Love Story
Author: Stephen Melillo
Publisher: Westwood Books Publishing
ISBN: 1648033822
Pages: 296
Genre: Historical Fiction
Reviewed by: Leah Shepherd
Hollywood Book Reviews
There’s plenty to enjoy in this sequel to the well-known classic Moby Dick. Death to Moby Dick: A Love Storyby author Stephen Melillo is a fictional blend and overlaps in interesting ways. It’s both a captivating love story and an adventurous tale of mankind’s struggle against sin and evil. The white whale, Moby Dick, symbolizes sin, hate and evil. It “Sets us on fire. It indwells us, urging us to wage war against each other, makes us see differences and not commonalities,” author Melillo writes. Shipbuilder Isaac Abram symbolizes goodness, love, and holiness. Isaac’s purpose in life is to kill the white whale, the same beast that killed his parents and his grandfather.
In this historical novel, Death to Moby Dick: A Love Story, one of the major themes is the cyclical nature of life and history repeating itself, especially in war and destruction. There’s also family trauma repeating itself across generations. The author comments on the futility of war. Most of the book takes place in the 1800s, which in the United States included massive bloodshed during the War of 1812 and the Civil War. Isaac Abram states, “It seems that every second generation or so is doomed to fight each other … Are we somehow predestined to fight the same battles over and again? What a waste.”
After giving a shipbuilding lecture in New Bedford, Mass., Isaac meets and falls in love with Irene O’Shannon, a beautiful opera singer who was born in Ireland and grew up in Italy. During his quest to kill Moby Dick, Isaac befriends the author Herman Melville on a whaling ship. He also develops a deep friendship with William Carney, a black Civil War veteran who helps him kill the white whale. Irene O’Shannon says the only thing worse than the white whale is obsession, and Isaac is certainly obsessed with killing the whale, which takes a steep toll on his personal relationships.
The love story between Isaac and Irene is touching and heartfelt. Melillo also writes beautifully about Isaac’s special bond with his mother, Abbie, a heroic and strong woman. “Abbie’s most remote thought, her every sublime experience, her smile, her tears, all of these tangibles and intangibles were assiduously etched deep into Isaac’s memory,” Melillo writes.
The author previously published a prequel to Melville’s Moby Dick, called Ahab: A Love Story. This book continues that rich fictional thread. The writing style is lyrical and noble. The characters are large and epic. If you like history and 19th Century novels, you’ll be sure to enjoy this one. You can dive into the first two books before this one, but it’s not a requirement. Death To Moby Dick: A Love Story can stand on its own.