Call Me Ishmaelle (Paperback) Xiaolu Guo (author)

Shortlisted for the Jhalak Prose Prize 2026

Call Me Ishmaelle reimagines the epic battle between man and nature in Herman Melville’s Moby Dick from a female perspective – perfect for fans Madeline Miller, Percival Everett and Barbara Kingsolver

In 1843, in a small village on the stormy Kent coast, Ishmaelle is born. She grows up swimming with dolphins and eventually – desperate for a life at sea – she disguises herself as a cabin boy and travels to New York.

As the American Civil War breaks out, Ishmaelle boards a whaling ship led by the obsessive Captain Seneca, a Black free man of heroic stature who is haunted by a tragic past. Here, she finds protectors amidst the bloody male violence of whaling and discovers a mysterious bond between herself and the mythical white whale Moby Dick…

Publisher information
Publisher: Vintage Publishing
ISBN: 9781529929997
Number of pages: 448
Dimensions: 197 x 129 x 30 mm
Weight: 302 g
Language: English