The Mapmaker's Wife: A True Tale Of Love, Murder, And Survival In The Amazon - Softcover

"'Gripping...one of the best books I have read this year'" (DAILY TELEGRAPH)

"'An unlikely page-turner...as a testament to frustration, endurance and mutual devotion, this takes some beating'" (SUNDAY TIMES)

"'Enthralling...Full of mystery and danger, bravery and tragedy, with a rapturous love story at its core that transcends both time and continents. A marvellous read'" --(DENNIS LEHANE)

"'In the brilliant tradition of Dava Sobel's Longitude...combines powerful storytelling with excellent historical research in a book that reads like a novel'" --(ALAN LIGHTMAN, author of 'Einstein's Dreams')

"'An exemplary narrative history and a fascinating tale of science, love and survival'" --(MARK HONIGSBAUM, author of 'The Fever Trail')

In the early years of the 18th century, a band of French scientists set off on a daring, decade-long expedition to South America in a race to measure the precise shape of the earth. Like Lewis and Clark's exploration of the American West, their incredible mission revealed the mysteries of a little-known continent to a world hungry for discovery. Scaling 16,000foot mountains in the Peruvian Andes, and braving jaguars, pumas, insects, and vampire bats in the jungle, the scientists barely completed their mission. One was murdered, another perished from fever, and a third-Jean Godin-nearly died of heartbreak. At the expedition's end, Jean and his Peruvian wife, Isabel Gramesón, became stranded at opposite ends of the Amazon, victims of a tangled web of international politics. Isabel's solo journey to reunite with Jean after their calamitous twenty-year separation was so dramatic that it left all of 18th-century Europe spellbound. Her survival-unprecedented in the annals of Amazon exploration-was a testament to human endurance, female resourcefulness, and the power of devotion.Drawing on the original writings of the French mapmakers, as well as his own experience retracing Isabel's journey, acclaimed writer Robert Whitaker weaves a riveting tale rich in adventure, intrigue, and scientific achievement. Never before told, The Mapmaker's Wife is an epic love story that unfolds against the backdrop of "the greatest expedition the world has ever known."