Under the Great Bear

Cabot Grant has just slipped his hand into the world of adulthood, the freshly‑minted diploma from a New England technical institute hanging loosely around his neck. His graduation day is a blur of football victories and social acclaim, yet the reality of a modest academic record leaves him staring at a future where the promising jobs his classmates have secured seem out of reach. When the richest of his peers, Thorpe Walling, proposes a year‑long voyage around the globe as a substitute for a conventional career, Cabot is torn between the lure of adventure and the expectations of his family and guardians.

The story lifts off as Cabot wrestles with that decision, his mind haunted by the recent loss of his mother and the shadow of a family will that dictates his next steps. Set against the stark backdrop of the northern seas—where the legendary Ursa Major looms overhead—the narrative hints at a journey that could reshape his ambitions, friendships, and sense of self, all while the promise of the unknown beckons just beyond the horizon.