Far Tortuga

By Peter Matthiessen,

Book cover of Far Tortuga

Book description

This adventure story is set in the Caribbean and describes the last voyage of the "Lillias Eden", an old wooden schooner employed in the turtle trade. The author's previous books include "The Snow Leopard", "Men's Lives", "The Cloud Forest" and "Under the Mountain Wall".

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked Far Tortuga as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Peter Matthiessen was considered one of America’s great wilderness writers. Yet in an interview, before he died in 2014, Matthiessen identified Far Tortuga as his personal favorite of all the books he had written. In this novel, Matthiessen offers a fictional account of his participation on one of the last turtle hunting voyages in the Caribbean. Drawing on his experience on the said voyage in the 1960s, Matthiessen vividly displays his keen observation skills with his depictions of the Caymanian turtle hunters and the challenges of this last generation of turtlemen. 

From Sharika's list on the maritime Caribbean.

Want books like Far Tortuga?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like Far Tortuga.

Browse books like Far Tortuga

Book cover of The Common Wind: Afro-American Currents in the Age of the Haitian Revolution
Book cover of In the Eye of All Trade: Bermuda, Bermudians, and the Maritime Atlantic World, 1680-1783
Book cover of The Windward Road: Adventures of a Naturalist on Remote Caribbean Shores

Share your top 3 reads of 2024!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,351

readers submitted
so far, will you?

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in Central America, shipwrecks, and the Caribbean?

Central America 33 books
Shipwrecks 27 books
The Caribbean 208 books