Ship Fever, Andrea Barrett (1996, Norton paperback) ***

An extraordinary book of short stories, these are fictional stories but are based on real people and real history, mostly nineteenth century naturalists (we'd probably call them biologists or doctors today). You need no background in science or its history to appreciate these stories about the struggles and passions of dedicated humans involved in their search for knowledge about the natural world and themselves. Andrea has brought these people to life and has made real to the reader their successes--and their failures. The title story, actually a novella, is wisely saved for the end, like a fine dessert. It's an absolute gem of a story--although a real heart-breaker-- about a Canadian doctor and the two women he loves, each desperately trying in their own way to help the overwhelming tide of immigrants from the great Irish potato famine of the mid-nineteenth century. Talk about bringing history to life--WOW!!