Of all the
"Swallows & Amazons" books, this is the most compelling read -- it
doesn't share the laid-back mood of most of the others, and the Walker
children are in real danger, which is unusual for the series (the
nearest to such would be the "Israelites" sequence {in "Secret Water"}
or in "Pigeon Post" {in the "Moles" or the fire sequence} all of which
are important but limited parts of the books).
Visiting aboard the "Goblin", the yacht of a young man they had
recently met, they find themselves adrift in a fog, swept helplessly
out into the North Sea as they drag (and lose) anchor, and then running
before a full North Sea gale, with no idea where they are or where they
are headed, and no certainty that they will not find themselves sinking
on shoals or run down by much larger ships (In a particularly tense and
thrilling sequence, just that almost happens, averted at the last
instant by ingenuity and level-headedness on the part of Captain
John.).
Facing the dangers they discover, drawing on their experience in
sailing much smaller boats and on their own courage and common sense,
they succeed in keeping themselves and the "Goblin" from harm, and even
succeed in a mid-sea "rescue".
And, in the course of the adventure, John Walker (somewhere in his late
teens, if i calculate aright) makes a major part of the step from boy
to young man, learning valuable lessons about himself and what he is
capable of, and keeping himself and his sisters and brother safe
through the long, stormy night.
This is children's adventure at its best, with action, comedy, thrills
and danger enough to satisfy almost any taste, but no violence,
gratutitous or otherwise. |
