Call Me Ishmaelle

“A propulsive powerhouse of a read.”–Marie Claire (UK)

“Ambitious, brave, and strange.”–Philip Hoare, author of Leviathan

From the National Book Critics Circle Award-winning author, a feminist reimagining of Herman Melville’s classic Moby-Dick through the eyes of one inimitable woman and a diverse, swashbuckling crew

I must work on a ship as a man . . . I must find freedom on the seas.

1843. Ishmaelle is born in a small village on the stormy Kent coast where she grows up swimming with dolphins. After her parents and infant sister die, her brother, Joseph, leaves to find work as a sailor. Abandoned and desperate for a life at sea, Ishmaelle disguises herself as a cabin boy and travels to New York.

Years later, as the American Civil War breaks out, Ishmaelle boards the Nimrod, a whaling ship led by the obsessive Captain Seneca, a Black free man of heroic stature who is haunted by a tragic past. Here, she finds protectors amidst the bloody male violence of whaling and discovers a mysterious bond between herself and the white whale who claimed Seneca’s leg.

Built on the bones of Melville’s classic, Call Me Ishmaelle is a dynamic new tale, imbued with an eclectic crew–from a Polynesian harpooner to a Taoist Monk–and a powerful exploration of human nature, gender, man’s place among the animals, and the nature of home.

Author: Xiaolu Guo
Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Grove Press, Black Cat
Published: 01/06/2026
Pages: 448
ISBN: 9780802166494
Language: English