A deep blue background features constellations and stars, with a compass design at the bottom.

“Filled with tension, excitement, and brilliant plot twists, the story moves at a breakneck pace against the backdrop of Gerstenblatt’s meticulous research. Luminous.”

- Fiona Davis, New York Times bestselling author of The Stolen Queen

The Stargazer of Nantucket

From award-winning author Julie Gerstenblatt, an epic tale of adventure on the high seas, a spunky stowaway, and a family confronting the past to secure their future.

Winifred Starbuck wants only one thing: to join her parents on their final merchant voyage—from Nantucket Island to bustling San Francisco, then across the glittering Pacific to the distant ports of China. Yet renowned trade captains Nell and Peter Starbuck have forbidden their daughter from coming aboard on the adventure of a lifetime. So Winnie does what any strong-willed eighteen-year-old would do: she stows away.

Once the ship sets sail, Winnie is plunged into turbulent waters, treachery, and the thrill of life on the high seas. As she drifts farther from shore, and closer to fabled Canton port, she uncovers a long-buried secret—one that reveals the truth behind her parents’ desperate fear. And as she continues to chart her own course, she’ll have to plumb the depths of her courage to take on a world far bigger—and more dangerous—than she ever imagined.

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Julie Gerstenblatt’s extraordinary new novel. . .is both intimate and worldly, brilliant with love, loss, humor, and pirates, too. Julie Gerstenblatt is our female James Michener, our American Ken Follett, and I can’t wait to see what she does next.

Nancy ThayerNew York Times bestselling author of Summer Light on Nantucket

Authentic and impeccably researched, packed with colorful characters and a narrative that surprises you at every turn, until you land at last on a satisfying shore. This is masterful storytelling from a gifted writer.

Beatriz WilliamsNew York Times bestselling author of Husbands and Lovers

Julie Gerstenblatt is a magnificent storyteller. The Stargazer of Nantucket is the best kind of maritime fiction—brilliantly imagined, inspired by real events—a bold transcendent love story of adventure, shifting loyalties and secrets, and a heart-pounding race for treasure and trade.

Dawn Trippnationally bestselling author of Jackie

A starry-eyed and gripping ocean adventure about a young Nantucket woman who must prove herself to her doubting father, The Stargazer of Nantucket is a sweeping story of love, fortune and how far we'll travel to discover who we're meant to be. An absolute delight!

Brooke Lea FisterAuthor of Our Last Vineyard Summer