Review
Sara Allerton s novel is a remarkable imaginative achievement. She takes you every inch of the way on this extraordinary journey across the Atlantic; it is a compelling story of both shame and heroism. --Edward Stourton
This is a brilliantly conceived story of endurance and romance, in which Sara Allerton s mastery of detail and sympathy with her characters fully engage the reader. It held me enthralled until the last sentence. --Lord Butler
I don t cry much over books, but this one brought a great lump to my throat. It is an extraordinary story of the grim face of war, chirpy unassuming courage, and running through, the need to keep faith whatever the cost. In the end, I did weep, but not from sorrow or despair. --Andrew Wheatcroft, author of Enemy at the Gate
This is a brilliantly conceived story of endurance and romance, in which Sara Allerton s mastery of detail and sympathy with her characters fully engage the reader. It held me enthralled until the last sentence. --Lord Butler
I don t cry much over books, but this one brought a great lump to my throat. It is an extraordinary story of the grim face of war, chirpy unassuming courage, and running through, the need to keep faith whatever the cost. In the end, I did weep, but not from sorrow or despair. --Andrew Wheatcroft, author of Enemy at the Gate
This so very nearly made [shortlist for the Costa First Novel Award 2010] - and perhaps it should have. It is based in part on a remarkable true story of survival at sea, and in that regard the writing is dignified yet compelling. Having survived the torpedoing of his boat during WWII, young wireless operator Cubby Clarke endures a terrible ordeal with other survivors from the boat, and even when they reach land, their ordeal is not over. But the reason for the power of this novel is its framing within a relationship between one of his shipmates and his fiancee, which packs an enormous emotional wallop and raises this far above a standard wartime survival story. The book deserves to reach a wide audience. --Mark Thornton, Costa Award judge 2010
This is a brilliantly conceived story of endurance and romance, in which Sara Allerton s mastery of detail and sympathy with her characters fully engage the reader. It held me enthralled until the last sentence. --Lord Butler
I don t cry much over books, but this one brought a great lump to my throat. It is an extraordinary story of the grim face of war, chirpy unassuming courage, and running through, the need to keep faith whatever the cost. In the end, I did weep, but not from sorrow or despair. --Andrew Wheatcroft, author of Enemy at the Gate
This is a brilliantly conceived story of endurance and romance, in which Sara Allerton s mastery of detail and sympathy with her characters fully engage the reader. It held me enthralled until the last sentence. --Lord Butler
I don t cry much over books, but this one brought a great lump to my throat. It is an extraordinary story of the grim face of war, chirpy unassuming courage, and running through, the need to keep faith whatever the cost. In the end, I did weep, but not from sorrow or despair. --Andrew Wheatcroft, author of Enemy at the Gate
This so very nearly made [shortlist for the Costa First Novel Award 2010] - and perhaps it should have. It is based in part on a remarkable true story of survival at sea, and in that regard the writing is dignified yet compelling. Having survived the torpedoing of his boat during WWII, young wireless operator Cubby Clarke endures a terrible ordeal with other survivors from the boat, and even when they reach land, their ordeal is not over. But the reason for the power of this novel is its framing within a relationship between one of his shipmates and his fiancee, which packs an enormous emotional wallop and raises this far above a standard wartime survival story. The book deserves to reach a wide audience. --Mark Thornton, Costa Award judge 2010
Product Description
WINNER: 2011 PEOPLE'S BOOK PRIZE. Torpedoed by a German U-boat, adrift on the open ocean, gravely weakened and slowly dying of thirst - the odds of making shore are lengthening with each gruelling hour. Deliverance from the decaying lifeboat will take something far more remarkable than sheer endurance. And after survival at sea, yet more anguish lies in wait. Based on a true incident in 1942. “Dignified yet compelling… packs an enormous emotional wallop”--Mark Thornton, Costa Award judge 2010. “A novel of raw intensity and startling emotional power”--Lancashire Evening Post. "A remarkable imaginative achievement"--Edward Stourton. "Destined to become a true maritime classic "--Angus Konstam. "A brilliantly conceived story of endurance and romance"--Lord Butler. "A powerful and remarkable novel"--Army Children Archive. "Elevated to the realms of the truly memorable"--Simon Appleby, Bookgeeks.
