Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4859 in Books
• Published on: 2007-06-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

Amanda Craig, The Times
"Lyrical and moving, it is one of the former Children's Laureate's best books for years."

The Observer Review
"His best book in years... I was completely hooked." Kate Kellaway,

The Guardian Children's Books Supplement
"A powerful story."

Customer Reviews

Alone on a wide wide sea is a great book!!!
Alone on a Wide Wide Sea

I dont read books much, but then when i went to the library the librarian pointed this book out to me, so i took it home and started reading. I loved the first half of it, where Arthur Hobhouse's life story is told,he is evacuated to austrailia with his lucky key given to him by his sister Kitty, where he lives the rest of his life. However the second half isn't as good although it is interesting to find out what happenes to Allie (Arthurs Daughter) on her long voyage to find her Fathers long lost sister Kitty,it still has some tension to keep you interested but it can get a bit boring. Overall it is one of the best books i've ever read,its just a little bit of a let down on the second half but, i still reccomend it to everyone who enjoys a good book.

Brilliant!
My 10 year old daughter's review of this book is:
I, myself, think that this book was amazing. Once you start reading it you can't stop. So when it's time to stop you have to tell yourself to!
I liked the phrases he used in the book.
I recommend this book to people who like a bit of mystery and ancient family stories.

A raw and inescapable book of lives as changeable as the sea itself .
Well written in two parts, the first two-thirds of this book is the story of Arthur, a young orphan shipped to Australia in 1947 without family or understanding. He has to leave behind everything he has ever known behind except for a "lucky key" he was given by his sister Kitty until the time they would be reunited, and the song London Bridge is Falling Down in his heart. Although his first sea voyage is miserable and his first years in the outback desperately hard, he grows to love the sea, the Ancient Mariner is his bible, and he becomes a master boat-builder. Life then takes a dive into deep dark water where he flounders for some years before finding `dry land' once again.
The second section of the book has a far more contemporary style: it is largely a diary of one-way conversational e-mails sent back home from the boat on which Allie, Arthur's daughter, returns to England. This is a single handed sailing from Australia to England in her late teens, a sort-of Ellen MacAthur-esque narrative for junior readers -that doesn't pull its punches. It's a long and arduous journey: a grim, cold and wet trip retracing her father's steps, and the highs and lows of Allie's mood on that long solitary journey mirror the towering dangerous waves. It's a triumphant ending though as the story comes full circle and the meaning of the `lucky key' ties into the underlying spirit of the book.
This vivid and realistic story, told in such different voices, interweaves the raw feeling of aloneness with the strength of family ties and raises the question of the importance of tracing who you are and where you came from, while glancing upon on a range of issues such as depression, gambling and cancer that drag you down as well as the things that lift you and give the strength and courage to go on. This raw and inescapable book will make you think and stretch your emotions - the lifes of Arthur and then Allie are as changeable in mood as the sea itself - rich fulfilling blues, dark jagged grey undercurrents & persistent stormy seas.
And if you enjoy this book (the first part in particular) the raw highs and lows of this, then you must try next the incredible Holes by Louis Sachar.