Book Summary
For the Ecuador book assignment, I chose The Mapmaker's Wife: A True Tale of Love, Murder, and Survival in the Amazon written by Robert Whitaker.
The book is about a Peruvian woman named Isabel Godin and her incredible journey through and along the Amazon River from October 1769 to February 1770. The reason she undertook this journey was so she could reunite with her French husband, Jean, whom she had been separated from for twenty years. To understand the circumstances of their marriage, separation, and reunion, the novel explained why Jean had been in South America to begin with, and that in itself also had a lengthy history and context that needed to be explained.
Throughout the 17th and into the 18th century, there were heated arguments in Europe about the Earth's shape. Everyone agreed Earth was round, but now the question concerned just what kind of spherical shape it was. Was it elongated toward the poles or flattened at the poles? People also questioned the exact measurements of Earth, as many distinguished scientists from all over Europe had calculated very different results. Finally, France and the French Academy of Sciences decided to send some scientists and geographers to the equator to gather exact measurements, publish their results, and hopefully end the dispute.
Louis Godin, Charles-Marie de La Condamine, and Pierre Bouguer led this expedition. In their party as a signal carrier and assistant was Jean Godin, who was Louis' cousin. The expedition landed in the West Indies in June 1735. Over the years of exploration in South America, their journey faced immense challenges, including lack of funds, difficult travel through the Andes, heated disputes between the three leaders, betrayals, lost letters and travel papers, and involvement in local disturbances. Their expedition finished in 1743, though very few of its members returned to France right away. Some had died on the journey, and the rest dispersed throughout South America to continue doing research. Jean Godin at this point stayed in Riobamba, a city that was at that time in the viceroyalty of Peru, with Isabel, whom he had married in 1741.
Jean and Isabel had always dreamed of moving to France, and in 1749 Jean set out to make that dream a reality. He would travel down the Amazon River, map it out, and determine what supplies would be needed to make the trip a second time, this time with Isabel and their soon-to-be-born child after he went back for them in Peru. He made it down the river and to the town of Pará in seven months. The hard part came after this. He tried to get a passport so he could go through the Portuguese border, but for years his letters were either ignored or lost, and eventually he ran out of money and had to find work to provide for himself. After endless pleas and letters to French officials, he was finally supplied with a Portuguese boat that would take him back to where he could travel to Isabel. He did not fully trust the captain, so he sent the boat on with his friend, who would get in contact with Isabel and bring her to the boat.
Word got to Isabel in Riobamba that there was a possibility of a boat waiting for her in another town to take her to her husband. She did not know for sure if this was true, but she decided to risk everything to find out. She left Riobamba with the Amazon on her mind on October 1st, 1769, accompanied by some of her family, servants, and indigenous slaves. Their trek through the mountains and jungle was devastating. Most of the slaves abandoned them, and they were soon stranded. The party split up, and Isabel was the only person in her group that survived. For about two months, she found the will to find food and water for herself, half mad and half dead, until finally she stumbled on two native couples who saved her. They took her to a mission station, where word of her being alive began to spread. Jean headed her way, and the husband and wife were in each other's arms again on July 18th, 1770. They had spent twenty one years apart.
They made their way to the coast and after a few more years of struggle, went off to France, where they spent the rest of their days together. Jean was finally recognized for all the work he put into the original expedition to Peru. He and Isabel raised Isabel's nephew, who had come to France sometime later. Jean died on March 1st, 1792, and Isabel died on September 27th, 1792.
While the strong will and academic expertise of the scientists on the French expedition through Peru was admirable, the real strength was with Isabel. The men who traveled through the mountains had each other, and the hope of one day returning to France for fame and glory. Isabel, however, was alone for almost half of her journey, and all she had was the hope--the small chance--that her husband was waiting for her close by. This story is a testament to the great capacity of humans for willpower, hope, and love. This book was a reminder for me that most of our strength lies in our minds. I am grateful that I read it.
The book is about a Peruvian woman named Isabel Godin and her incredible journey through and along the Amazon River from October 1769 to February 1770. The reason she undertook this journey was so she could reunite with her French husband, Jean, whom she had been separated from for twenty years. To understand the circumstances of their marriage, separation, and reunion, the novel explained why Jean had been in South America to begin with, and that in itself also had a lengthy history and context that needed to be explained.
Throughout the 17th and into the 18th century, there were heated arguments in Europe about the Earth's shape. Everyone agreed Earth was round, but now the question concerned just what kind of spherical shape it was. Was it elongated toward the poles or flattened at the poles? People also questioned the exact measurements of Earth, as many distinguished scientists from all over Europe had calculated very different results. Finally, France and the French Academy of Sciences decided to send some scientists and geographers to the equator to gather exact measurements, publish their results, and hopefully end the dispute.
Louis Godin, Charles-Marie de La Condamine, and Pierre Bouguer led this expedition. In their party as a signal carrier and assistant was Jean Godin, who was Louis' cousin. The expedition landed in the West Indies in June 1735. Over the years of exploration in South America, their journey faced immense challenges, including lack of funds, difficult travel through the Andes, heated disputes between the three leaders, betrayals, lost letters and travel papers, and involvement in local disturbances. Their expedition finished in 1743, though very few of its members returned to France right away. Some had died on the journey, and the rest dispersed throughout South America to continue doing research. Jean Godin at this point stayed in Riobamba, a city that was at that time in the viceroyalty of Peru, with Isabel, whom he had married in 1741.
Jean and Isabel had always dreamed of moving to France, and in 1749 Jean set out to make that dream a reality. He would travel down the Amazon River, map it out, and determine what supplies would be needed to make the trip a second time, this time with Isabel and their soon-to-be-born child after he went back for them in Peru. He made it down the river and to the town of Pará in seven months. The hard part came after this. He tried to get a passport so he could go through the Portuguese border, but for years his letters were either ignored or lost, and eventually he ran out of money and had to find work to provide for himself. After endless pleas and letters to French officials, he was finally supplied with a Portuguese boat that would take him back to where he could travel to Isabel. He did not fully trust the captain, so he sent the boat on with his friend, who would get in contact with Isabel and bring her to the boat.
Word got to Isabel in Riobamba that there was a possibility of a boat waiting for her in another town to take her to her husband. She did not know for sure if this was true, but she decided to risk everything to find out. She left Riobamba with the Amazon on her mind on October 1st, 1769, accompanied by some of her family, servants, and indigenous slaves. Their trek through the mountains and jungle was devastating. Most of the slaves abandoned them, and they were soon stranded. The party split up, and Isabel was the only person in her group that survived. For about two months, she found the will to find food and water for herself, half mad and half dead, until finally she stumbled on two native couples who saved her. They took her to a mission station, where word of her being alive began to spread. Jean headed her way, and the husband and wife were in each other's arms again on July 18th, 1770. They had spent twenty one years apart.
They made their way to the coast and after a few more years of struggle, went off to France, where they spent the rest of their days together. Jean was finally recognized for all the work he put into the original expedition to Peru. He and Isabel raised Isabel's nephew, who had come to France sometime later. Jean died on March 1st, 1792, and Isabel died on September 27th, 1792.
While the strong will and academic expertise of the scientists on the French expedition through Peru was admirable, the real strength was with Isabel. The men who traveled through the mountains had each other, and the hope of one day returning to France for fame and glory. Isabel, however, was alone for almost half of her journey, and all she had was the hope--the small chance--that her husband was waiting for her close by. This story is a testament to the great capacity of humans for willpower, hope, and love. This book was a reminder for me that most of our strength lies in our minds. I am grateful that I read it.
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