At 15, Jackie French wrote ‘an angry three-book rebuttal of Lord of the Flies.’ Now she writes of how women, in the late 19th century, have created a cooperative, free society on an isolated island somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean, several days sailing west of Cape Town.
Two centuries earlier, when a slave ship was becalmed in the doldrums, the crew mutinied and three female slaves were among those who escaped to Big Henry Island – an active volcanic peak devoid of all life. Over time, the survivors created soil to grow crops by mixing seaweed with their bodily waste and rubbish.
By 1870, the island is a kind of utopia run mainly by women. The few men – shipwreck survivors – maintain their seagoing ways returning to their island families every few years.
One day, 21-year-old Mair finds a naked man, seemingly dead, washed up on the only beach. Michael Dawson, whose family owns a thriving shipping company, is now a ‘beachie’ – eligible for marriage according to island custom.
Michael has been entranced by a deserted ghost ship he found becalmed in the doldrums. It carried a vast hoard of gold. Before he could transfer all the gold to his own ship he was pushed overboard but made it to Big Henry Island.
Mair and Michael eventually marry and relocate to the Dawson mansion on Sydney Harbour. Mair’s free-spirited ways put her at odds with her new family. Several unexplained deaths in the Dawson family, and Michael’s disappearance, only add to Mair’s problems.
The Sea Captain’s Wife is a work of an exceptional storyteller, crammed full of love and hope for the future.
Reviewed by Russell Thomson
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jackie French was born in Sydney; grew up on the outskirts of Brisbane, and is still not dead. She has lived for more than 40 years at the top of the gorge in the Araluen Valley, where her ancestors lived too. Only one school she attended burned down. This was not her fault.
Some of Jackie’s books have sold millions of copies and won over 60 awards in Australia and internationally. Others were eaten by the wombats.
Instead of hobbies she has written over 200 books; built a house and power system; planted thousands of trees;harvests about 800 of them; lunches with friends; reads to her grandkids; tries to find her glasses; eats dark chocolates, what ever fruit is in season and the odd feral species. (Some are very odd). She coined the term ‘moral ominvore’ to describe her diet. There is a dispensation for dark chocolate.
Jackie has studied over 400 wombats, and been the (almost) obedient slave to a dozen of them. She is an enthusiastic cook, married to an enthusiastic eater. If you visit, do not bring cake. It is the duty of a guest to eat. Lots. Then eat some more. If you are worried about calories hike up the mountain and look for endangered species. But you will find more on a bush mooch than a bush walk. Watch out for the eight species of snake. Don’t worry. They’ll also be watching out for you.
Jackie writes for adults, young adults, and even younger humans, on history, ecology, and her award winning historical fiction for all age but write just one picture book about a wombat, and no-one lets you forget it.
Jackie is also dyslexic and patron of literacy programmes across Australia with a wide and deep – if accidental- experience in learning differences and methods, and their outcomes for students, as well as a passionate advocate for equal educational opportunity. She still can’t spell.
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