How New Bedford Shaped the Foundation of Whalers

The Salinas Valley. West Egg, New York. Maycomb, Alabama.
If you answered, East of Eden, The Great Gatsby, and To Kill a Mockingbird—you are correct.

Any writer’s manual will tell you to “write what you know.” When I thought about this, I realized two important things I know well: the world of education and New Bedford, MA.

I was born in New Bedford in 1991. Like Steinbeck and the Salinas Valley, my hometown has always held a larger-than-life feeling for me. It may not be the Garden of Eden that Steinbeck envisioned for California, but New Bedford is a place caught between two distinct identities. This was an idea I couldn’t grapple with enough.

The Whaling City:
In the mid-1800s, New Bedford was the richest city in North America, per capita. Thousands flocked to its shores, hoping for a better life and a chance to strike it rich on the sea. The Portuguese, Cape Verdeans, Irish, and countless freed slaves created a melting pot of forward-thinking and progress. The legacy of those days remains—cobblestone streets downtown, the Whaling Museum, statues, and fishing boats that speak to the city’s past as a historical mecca of early America.

But that era came to an end, as all things do.

The Secret City:
Today, New Bedford’s reputation is far from one of wealth and unity. The whaling industry gave way to textiles, which soon faded, leaving the city in decline. Nowadays, most articles rank it among the top five most dangerous places to live in Massachusetts. It’s known as “The Secret City,” a place where you don’t walk alone at night and where trust in authority is hard to find.

This dichotomy fascinated me as I began writing Whalers. These two contrasting sides—modern and historical—provided the perfect backdrop for the story I wanted to tell. As a result, New Bedford became more than just a setting; it took on the role of a character in its own right.

The novel’s protagonist, Ethan Callahan, mirrors the city in many ways. As he battles his inner demons, his struggles echo the decline of New Bedford. He, like the city, yearns for a time when he felt successful. But time is the most unrelenting force there is, and it passes by everyone.

The characters in Whalers, Ethan included, aren’t just characters—they are the people of New Bedford. They are those who live with the city’s contradictions, who face its challenges and cherish its hidden strengths, always striving to overcome. New Bedford’s unique identity allowed me to explore the novel’s major themes—loss, redemption, and resilience—in a way that feels deeply personal.

I invite you to explore this city with Ethan when Whalers debuts in 2025.

Do you have a favorite place? A hometown caught between two identities? Or do you live in New Bedford and understand its strengths and challenges? Reach out to me on the contact page—I’d love to hear your story.