David Grann became a celebrated author with Killers of the Flower Moon (which was made into a film in 2023). He hasn’t rested on his laurels either. “The Wager,” named Book of the Year by Barnes & Noble, is Grann’s latest work and well worth reading.
The Wager is the story of an ill-fated 18th century ship named after British officer Sir Charles Wager. The ship is part of a squadron led by Commodore George Anson (who also pilots the Centurion). Captain David Cheap is in command of The Wager, which, along with the other ships of the squadron, is sent in 1740 to track down a Spanish galleon rumored to be full of riches.
The ship is separated from the squadron off the southern coast of South America. The crew is shipwrecked miles from the continent and is in an irreparable condition. The crew is stranded on a deserted island and has practically no food or water. They remain there for months.
In a desperate situation, many of the crew begin to harbor mutiny. They already blame Cheap for steering the ship too close to the rocks and thus sealing its doom. But the mutiny escalates into mutiny after Cheap shoots a drunken crew member.
The mutineers are led by John Bulkeley, the ship’s gunner, who is in charge of repairing the small boats left on board the remains of the Wager, and his initial plan is to try to return to England (taking Cheap as a prisoner).
At the center of the conflict is young John Byron, a midshipman aged just 16. He was also the grandfather of the great English poet (although the two never met). Byron is torn between concern over Cheap’s incompetence (as well as murder) and his duty as a crew member to respect the chain of command.
Cheap expresses to Bulkeley that he would rather be left behind than deported as a prisoner. Bulkeley accommodates Cheap and leaves him with the crew members who are on the captain’s side. Although Byron initially joins Bulkeley’s group, he leaves the mutineers and makes his way back to the island and to Cheap.
Bulkeley and the rest of his crew return to England after untold ordeals, and Bulkeley keeps a record of events to provide the reasons for the mutiny (in case they are prosecuted). Several years later, by miracle at sea, Cheap returns to England with his surviving comrades and reports the mutiny to the Admiralty Office.
A court martial is called, but it is important not to reveal the outcome of the hearings, as there must be no spoilers. What can be noted, however, is that the record kept by Buckeley is initially published as a triumphant story, but after Cheap’s return to England it is used as evidence against Buckeley.
A writer tells a story. A journalist reports the facts. Grann manages to do both, and is in fact both a writer and a journalist. The Wager maintains the literary excellence that Grann delivered in Killers of the Flower Moon. It is also certain that a movie will be made of it. But rarely is the movie as good as the book. And that is certainly the case with The Wager.
John O’Neill is a freelance writer based in Allen Park.
