Product Description

Set in the last century against a tropical landscape and the ever-present sea, "A High Wind in Jamaica" tells the story of a family of English children who, on being sent by their parents back to England from Jamaica, fall into the hands of pirates. As this voyage of innocence continues the events which unfold begin to take on a savagely detached and haunting quality.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #41457 in Books
• Published on: 2002-07-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

Review
'A hot draught of mad, primal fantasy and poetry' Rebecca West

Customer Reviews

A forgotten masterpiece
I read this for a book group. It is uncliched and wonderfully evocative. It feels at the same time dreamlike and chillingly realistic. I am amazed it is not better known.

The book is set in the late Victorian period in Jamaica and at sea, with the main character being an imaginative 10 year old English girl called Emily. The story unfolds largely through Emily's eyes, which means the reader does not always know exactly what is going on.

Some members of the book group disliked it, because of the strange plot, the author's darkly cynical view of human nature, and the number of things that are left unexplained. So be warned, if you only like "normal" books with happy endings, don't read this!

A canonical piece of literature
It is truly a shame that this book may be soon out of print. I first read the book when I was 10 years old and found it disturbing because the little 10 year old main was nothing like "normal" literary heroines. The next time I read the book I was in my twenties and understood themes in the book that pertained to adult perceptions of children. The third time I read the book, I picked up themes relating to perception of people in general.

Although this is an "adult" book, I think it would make a great present for a child to share with an adult.

High Quality
Hughes' two great strengths are: his ability to evoke sights, sounds, smells, sensations of all kinds - there are decriptive passages in this book of truly cinematic power: and his quality of thinking - his accounts of the interior lives of children are striking and insightful. Both these virtues have to be combined with amsterful use of language, of course - and here, they are.