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Secret Water (Paperback)

by Arthur Ransome (Author)
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
RRP: £7.99
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Secret Water + The Big Six + Great Northern?
Price For All Three: £22.45

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  • This item: Secret Water by Arthur Ransome

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Product details

  • Paperback: 432 pages
  • Publisher: Red Fox; New edition edition (6 Sep 2001)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0099427230
  • ISBN-13: 978-0099427230
  • Product Dimensions: 19 x 13.8 x 3 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 90,686 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Product Description

Marooned on an island, John, Susan, Titty and Roger begin map-making and exploring. But who are the mysterious savages who lurk nearby? Ages 9 and up.


About the Author

Arthur Ransome was born in Leeds in 1884 and went to school at Rugby. He was in Russia in 1917, and witnessed the Revolution, which he reported for the Manchester Guardian. After escaping to Scandinavia, he settled in the Lake District with his Russian wife where, in 1929, he wrote Swallows and Amazons. And so began a writing career which has produced some of the real children's treasures of all time.

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Secret Water
74% buy the item featured on this page:
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Customer Reviews

5 Reviews
5 star:
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4 star:
 (1)
3 star:
 (2)
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Average Customer Review
4.0 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars An unassuming little gem, 10 April 2001
By A Customer
This review is from: Secret Water (Red Fox older fiction) (Paperback)
After the excitement of "We Didn't Mean To Go To Sea", Arthur Ransome's eighth story in the Swallows and Amazons series returns to more comfortable and comforting territory. Set very shortly after the children's ordeal at sea in the previous volume, "Secret Water" finds the Walker children "marooned" on an island in the tidal area of Hamford Water, Essex. Here they spend a week or so, camping and surveying the low-lying islands, tortuous channels and tidal flats, whilst also having to deal with the quandary of whether to make friends with (or wage war upon) the local savage tribesmen. Once, of course, the small matter of one of their number being taken for a human sacrifice has been resolved!

This story is something of an attempt to return to the simple style of tale that worked so well with both "Swallows and Amazons" and "Swallowdale": a tale of children building a world of their own creation while at the same time learning to deal successfully with the real world in which they find themselves. After some of the more exciting later volumes in the S&A series, though, some readers may find the results just a little flat.

As always, though, Ransome weaves his tale through the deftest handling of prose and most adults at least should find this tale as charming as any the others in the series. It is nice, too, to see that the young Bridget is now able to start participating in the activities of her siblings.

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Secret but uneventful, 13 Sep 2008
By seeyoujimmy (Cambridge) - See all my reviews
Having read a few Arthur Ransome books as a child, I was moved to read this one having recently visited the waters where it is set. The book is charming in the style of the earlier books in the canon - you might enjoy the charmingly dated dialogue of the children, the detail of the nautical terms and observations, and revisiting the characters. However be warned - nothing really happens, and although the tides may run strongly through the secret water, there is not much of a narrative current to sweep you through this tale. I did enjoy it, having been there last month, but otherwise this is one best read in the sun, by the water, with the gulls calling in the background.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Central Masterpiece, 5 Jan 2008
By Michael O'Brien - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Secret Water (Hardcover)
This is the third book of the central trilogy of masterpieces by Arthur Ransome, following on from Pigeon Post and We Didn't Mean To Go To Sea. It contains the essence of Ransome's successful formula: believable situations where the characterisation and plot lines wonderfully create a magical yet realistic story. (Although Peter Duck and Missee Lee are enjoyable and read well as pure adventure books, I always felt that they suffered in comparison to the others because the situations were unlikely).

In Secret Water Ransome creates an inland tidal backwater where the Walkers and Blacketts explore and map uncharted territory, aided and abetted by native guides and savages. Once again, the situations are artfully described and any child (of any age!) who has ever enjoyed exploring new surroundings will be sucked into this world. The book is wonderfully illustrated with Ransome's characteristic line drawings and maps, which add to the pleasure.

These books describe a (possibly mythical) more innocent time, an age where communication was by operator phones and telegrams, where mass tourism hadn't reached all areas and where children could be left alone in safety. Despite this, children will recognise themselves in the characters and wish, as I still do, to be there sharing their adventures.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Meeting old friends
It was great meeting some of my old Ransome friends again. Not only did he always write a good story, but there are always things to learn in his books, and I was never aware of... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Dick Cullem

3.0 out of 5 stars A pleasure for fans, not the best (sorry!)
Although Arthur Ransome's characters and scene setting / scenery continue to be strong in this novel, to me it is one of the weakest in the series. Read more
Published on 26 Mar 2007 by Mosschops

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