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1-Page Summary of The Sea

Beth Powning’s historical novel The Sea Captain’s Wife (2010) tells the story of a woman who is married to a sea captain. She has romantic notions about what life at sea will be like, but she soon learns that it isn’t all pleasantries and beauty. It’s also hard work and responsibility. This book centers on her coming of age as she deals with her husband’s family, his career in the navy, and her own personal ambitions.

Azuba Galloway grows up in a small fishing village. She dreams of traveling on the ships that come into the harbor and take her away from her life there. When she marries a sea captain, Nathaniel Bradstock, it seems like all her childhood wishes will be fulfilled: she’ll get to see far-off places and spend more time with him than when he comes home every few years.

Azuba becomes pregnant shortly after her wedding. She’s worried about how she’ll handle life on the ship, but Nathaniel changes his mind and decides to leave without her anyway. Azuba is sad that he won’t be with her anymore, but she raises their daughter Carrie and takes care of the house herself with help from family members.

After five years of marriage, Azuba is pregnant again when her husband leaves for another trip. However, she loses the baby and is devastated. She seeks comfort from a local vicar who understands her love of the sea. They become close friends but are shunned by others because they’re not related to each other. When they get trapped together during a storm and have to spend the night outside in each other’s company, their behavior is condemned as inappropriate by those around them.

Nathaniel returns home and is surprised by the gossip about his wife. He has to take her with him on a trip in order to fix her reputation. At first, Azuba is delighted because she finally gets what she wants, but then realizes that Nathaniel’s captain persona dominates Traveler instead of his husband one. The captain treats them like crew members and confines them to their small cabin most of the time.

Life at sea is both exciting and scary, as a young girl learns. On one hand, she gets to see exotic places like London, San Francisco, and Hong Kong. She experiences the new and the amazing on her journey. However, there’s also danger when she encounters treacherous storms in Cape Horn or near-starvation periods waiting for wind in the doldrums off South America. She even witnesses slave traders capturing people from their homes and selling them into slavery.

Azuba, a mother of several children, is often unsure if she made the right decision to travel with her family. She worries that they’re witnessing too much for their young ages and fears that it will affect them negatively in the future. However, she knows that even though it’s difficult for her and her children on board ship, Nathaniel (her husband) gets along well with his daughter Carrie because he can connect with her more than anyone else at sea due to their similar personalities.

Eventually, Azuba realizes that Nathaniel’s distance is caused by his resentment of her relationship with Simon and by his fears about protecting her and the children on board. She sees that giving up this life to live in Whelan’s Cove would mean the end of a marriage where he respects and trusts her.

Azuba decides to stick with Nathaniel, even when things get difficult. She reads books about sailing and learns the art of navigation, she questions Nathaniel’s decisions as captain and offers her own ideas on how to manage people, and she solves problems on the ship so that he sees her as an equal rather than a burden.