To the Edge of the World: A BBC RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK - Hardcover

TILAR J. MAZZEO

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1783969172 ISBN 13: 9781783969173

Publisher: Elliott & Thompson Limited, 2026

Synopsis

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A BBC RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK

One woman. One ship. One astonishing true story.

‘Mazzeo has written a white-knuckle ride of a book.’ Daily Mail

‘A rousing read.’ The Daily Telegraph

‘Hear the wind whistle through the ropes, taste the salt spray and feel the roll of the ship…. A true-life epic.’ Peter Fretwell, author of Antarctic Atlas

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Summer 1856. Nineteen-year-old Mary Ann Patten and her husband, Joshua, are young and ambitious. Both from New England seafaring families, they have already completed their first global voyage with Joshua as captain. Their dream of building a home and a family is almost within reach, but the price of that freedom is one last dangerous transit – a high-stakes race to deliver supplies to the other side of the country. And there is no alternative but to sail all the way around.

Yet as their ship leaves New York, navigating towards the jagged coastline of South America, Joshua falls sick, confined to his bunk and delirious. The treacherous first mate is imprisoned in the brig for insubordination. With no obvious option for a new captain, Mary Ann steps up to take the helm. Within days, she has put down a mutiny. Now she must attempt to steer this 216-foot ship, laden with the modern equivalent of $11 million of cargo, through Drake’s Passage and around Cape Horn – the most treacherous waters in the world.

To the Edge of the World is the true story of one woman who, when faced with impossible odds, would do all that was necessary to survive.

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‘In all non-fiction maritime literature, this is a story without parallel.’ Mensun Bound, author of The Ship Beneath the Ice

‘What a breathtaking journey! A spellbinding triumph of storytelling.’ Marie Benedict, author of The Queens of Crime

‘An epic tale of courage, fortitude, and grit.’ Siddharth Kara, author of The Zorg

About this title

About the Author

Dr. Tilar J. Mazzeo is The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and San Francisco Chronicle bestselling author of numerous award-winning works of narrative nonfiction, including Widow Clicquot – now a major Hollywood film. Formerly the Clara C. Piper Associate Professor of English at Colby College and Professeure Associée in the Department of World Literatures at the University of Montreal, Dr. Mazzeo left the academy in 2019 to focus full-time on writing. A fifth- generation sailor and tenth- generation Mainer (where the Patten story begins), she lives today on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, where, with her husband, she captains a Vancouver 42 offshore sailboat.

Edition details

• Publisher: Elliott & Thompson Limited
• Publication date: 2026
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1783969172
• ISBN 13: 9781783969173
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 304