The Mapmaker's Wife

A True Tale of Love, Murder, and Survival in the Amazon

By: Robert Whitaker

Narrated by: Eric Jason Martin

In the early years of the 18th century, a band of French scientists set off on a daring, decade-long expedition to South America in a race to measure the precise shape of the earth. Like Lewis and Clark's exploration of the American West, their incredible mission revealed the mysteries of a little-known continent to a world hungry for discovery. Scaling 16,000-foot mountains in the Peruvian Andes, and braving jaguars, pumas, insects, and vampire bats in the jungle, the scientists barely completed their mission. One was murdered, another perished from fever, and a third - Jean Godin - nearly died of heartbreak. At the expedition's end, Jean and his Peruvian wife, Isabel Grameson, became stranded at opposite ends of the Amazon, victims of a tangled web of international politics. Isabel's solo journey to reunite with Jean after their calamitous 20-year separation was so dramatic that it left all of 18th-century Europe spellbound. Her survival - unprecedented in the annals of Amazon exploration - was a testament to human endurance, female resourcefulness, and the power of devotion.

Drawing on the original writings of the French mapmakers, as well as his own experience retracing Isabel's journey, acclaimed writer Robert Whitaker weaves a riveting tale rich in adventure, intrigue, and scientific achievement.

©2004 Robert Whitaker (P)2019 Tantor

Alright

The book was pretty good. The story is interesting, but quite frankly there wasn't a lot of information for the author to work with. He made the most of it. The narrator was mediocre. It kept me interested, but isn't a page turner.

Fantastic writing poorly performed

A truly fascinating story full of history, adventure, and science written with a fast-pace and engaging narrative. Narrator is incredibly halting- pass on this audio book and stick with the text!

Quite a bit of back story, but interesting

I enjoyed learning about how the French mathematicians where figuring out the shape of the earth. It was interesting to heat about Peru and the people there. But most impressive is the Map Makers Wife. She reminds me of Readers Digests "Drama in Teal Life".

Excellent, rich contextual story of the la Condamine expedition to “Peru”

I enjoyed the deep context to the history of this key earth measurement, the local color of Ecuador, the harrowing tale of travel in the Amazon and its tributaries in the 18th century, and the author’s respect for the efforts of these amazing scientists and, in some cases, their families. It is a striking story compassionately told. It is well read, though the pronunciation of French names and words was at time painful.

Brutality of colonialism in S. America

Subtitle suggests more personal story. At times expedition details are tediously detailed for those less interested in scientific precision. The horrific treatment of indigenous peoples and grinding bureaucracy of the period recorded in this book speak to roots of today’s social issues.

Good. Could have been great…

Despite the breathless narration (which was a bit annoying) and essentially a retelling of the book, Latitude, by Nicholas Crane, it’s a worthy read/listen.

But in fairness, the actual story of the ‘mapmaker’s wife’ is told only in the last 3 hours of the book. That was disappointing.

The vast majority of the book was about the incredible scientific expedition of the group with Charles Marie de La Condamine, the French explorer, geographer, and mathematician who spent ten years in Ecuador, measuring the length of a degree of latitude at the equator and preparing the first map of the Amazon.

Again, this was still a good/worthy read.

But for those interested in such adventures, I HIGHLY recommend the book, Latitude, cited above.

Great historical info

Jumps around chronologically but the overall story is great! People forget the Herculean efforts made to gain the knowledge we have about the world
Today.

Fascinating!

I learned so much from the world that this book opened up to me. I realized how ignorant I was about the European and Colonial world's, about scientific discoveries during this time period, and of cultural aspects of humanity that we seem to repeat , over and over - beneficial and detrimental. I hurried back to listen some more and am sorry that it is now over. VERY glad to have heard it.

Not what I expected at all

To many facts.......no story did not get me hooked at all. Expected story but most of the time got facts