Chapters 1-11 Summary

Ahab's Wife by Sena Jeter Maslund is the story of a woman named Una whose life was dominated by the sea from an early age. She disguises herself as a boy and runs away to sea to work as a cabin boy and has many adventures. She watches her husband, Captain Ahab, go into madness after losing his leg to the whale Moby Dick. After his death, she makes a life for herself. Ahab's life is Una's story of the life she lived and how she found peace and fulfillment.

Una recalls her childhood and how her father, who had always been kind to her, becomes violent and eventually takes his own life. Una, who becomes pregnant by her husband Ahab, spends the pregnancy in Kentucky with her mother. When she begins labor, her mother goes for the doctor. While she...