In the summer of 1850, Herman Melville finds himself hounded by creditors and afraid his writing career might be coming to an end. In despair, Melville takes his family for a vacation to his cousin s farm in the Berkshires, where he meets Nathaniel Hawthorne at a picnic and his life turns upside down. The Whale chronicles the fervent love affair that grows out of that serendipitous afternoon."