To the Edge of the World

A BBC RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK

One woman. One ship. One astonishing true story.

‘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

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.

‘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

To the Edge of the World is the true story of one woman who, when faced with i