The Innocent Voyage

"Strange, almost fantastic, is this story of the West Indies and life on the open seas. There is a power about it that grips you, there is realism so stark that it almost frightens you. It is like a strange dream stripped of its emotion content in which you are swept through episodes of childhood, of parenthood, of native life, of sea-battles, of cruelty, of love under the scorching suns, driving rains, earthquakes and tornadoes of the southern seas. From the moment you meet the children, from the moment they are despatched on a sailing vessel to be brought up in England, and from the moment they are captured and taken aboard the pirate vessel you know you are in the hands of a writer of amazing power and imagination. It is not a book to be read lightly, but it is a tale that once started you will find impossible to forget."--Jacket.