SOURCE: “Exploring Inner Landscapes,” in Chicago Tribune Books, September 13, 1998, pp. 1, 9.

In the following positive review of The Voyage of the Narwhal, Graham praises Barrett's detailed historical research.

As readers of her National Book Award-winning story collection Ship Fever know, Andrea Barrett has long been fascinated by the ironies of the scientific endeavor, how the quest for a clarity of vision is often distorted by the complications of human passion. In her powerful new novel, The Voyage of the Narwhal, Barrett continues to examine, now on a grand scale, the myriad dangers of gathering knowledge of the world without at the same time deepening a knowledge of the self.

In May 1855, the Narwhal sets sail from Philadelphia in search of any sign of the lost arctic expedition of Sir John Franklin. Sharing this voyage are Zeke Voorhees, commander of the rescue party, and Erasmus Wells, the ship's naturalist. Initially...