The Disastrous Voyage of the Santa Margarita

Starred review from February 15, 2009
Woodmans latest, a swashbuckling yet ultimately tragic seafaring adventure set in the 1600s, is based on a true story. Don Iago Fernandez barely survives a shipwreck that leaves him a prisoner in a remote area of China. Eventually, he escapes to the Philippines and negotiates passage on the Santa Margarita, a New Spainbound ship carrying 300 passengers, among them soldiers, priests, prostitutes, merchants, and seamen. As a seafarer with years of experience, Don Iago knows the ship is overcrowded and overloaded, so hes prepared for problems, but even he cant predict the 40 typhoons and hurricanes that will batter the boat and force it to spend more than six months covering less than a quarter of its intended journey. Nor can he know that the crew and passengers will suffer tragedy and terrible deprivation, be ravaged by illness, undergo mutiny, and end up shipwrecked on an island populated by violent savages. Woodman perfectly captures the sheer terror and incredible adventure of the Santa Margaritas voyage and seasons his story with authentic descriptions of the political, social, and religious customs of the time. His incredible enthusiasm for and knowledge of all things maritime plus a riveting plot, taut suspense, and pulse-pounding action add up to a whale of a read.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)