Alone on a Wide, Wide Sea is a book by Michael Morpurgo, first published in 2006 by HarperCollins. It was inspired by the history of English orphans transported to Australia after World War II. The book's title is taken from a line in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.
Contents |
Arthur Hobhouse tells the story of his life. His earliest memory was that he was an orphan from Bermondsey, in London, and that, at the age of six, in 1947, he was transported to Australia to find a new home. He is parted from his sister, Kitty, who he is not sure even exists. He distinctly remembers the time of their parting, which was at their orphanage in Liverpool, when she gave him a key. He treasures the key from then on, despite not knowing what it unlocks. He boards the ship and leaves with other orphans for Australia.
The voyage is long and terrible for Arthur. In his bunk there are other boys from the North who are older than he is. They bully him due to his age, his accent, his habit of humming London Bridge is Falling Down to get himself to sleep, and for his wicked sea sickness. But one day, whilst being sick over the ship's railing again, he meets fellow London orphan Marty. They become best friends, and Marty stands up to the boys bullying Arthur by punching their leader, Wes Snarkey. They leave Arthur alone after this.
Upon arrival in Sydney, an officer tries to separate Arthur and Marty, but Marty is persistent that they stay together, and the two, along with the remaining boys, are taken on a bus ride through the outback. Arthur notices that only one of the boys from his cabin is on the bus, Wes. Marty talks about how brilliant their new life will be, while Arthur reckons his lucky key is being lucky for him.
The bus draws to a halt at a farm called Cooper's Station. A gramophone is playing What a Friend We Have In Jesus. The farm is run by Mr. Bacon (known to the boys as Piggy Bacon), and his wife, Mrs. Bacon (known as Mrs. Piggy). The couple are very unalike. Piggy Bacon is cruel, loud, and claims to be a devout Christian but is not; Mrs. Piggy is kind, caring, quiet, a good Christian, and completely under her husband's power.
Soon, Mrs. Piggy's kindness is revealed, and the boys start calling her Ida. Ida attempts to burn the farmhouse down to free the children from the working camp, but fails. Wes, now the boys' heroes because of his blatant defiance, attempts to escape on a horse called Black Jack, but is brought back dead by the bushmen. Arthur and Marty later escape on Black Jack into the bush, where the bushmen look after them. One day the bushmen leave them for no apparent reason. It turned out that the bushmen had left them on the doorstep of Aunty Megs, a woman who looks after the orphaned animals of the bush, taking them in like they were her own children.
One day, she is badly injured after falling off her horse whilst riding in the outback. Soon after nursing her back to health, Arthur and Marty are sent as apprentices to a boat building firm in Sydney by Aunty Megs. Everything is well for a few years, until the boat yard's ownder, heavily in debt, burns his business down in order to collect on the insurance, and is sent to prison. Unemployed and broke, Marty resorts to drinking, drowning after falling in the harbor after a night out.
Arthur returns to Aunty Megs for a few years, until her death. Her enstranged son sells her house, so Arthur decides to join the Navy to earn money. Being deeply scarred by the war, Arthur then joins a trawling company. He falls into a stupor for fifteen years of losing job after job, gambling away whatever he earnt, and drinking. One day, he wakes up in a hospital in Tanzania, having accidentally taking a lot of pills with whiskey. He falls in love with his nurse, Zita, and when he recovers, her father, the Cretan owner of Starvos Boats, gives him permission to marry her. They have a daughter called Alexis, nicknamed Allie by Arthur.
When Allie is ten years old, she makes Arthur promise that they'll sail to England to find Kitty. Zita agrees, but only when Allie turns eighteen. This inspires Arthur to make a bath toy boat for Allie, called the Kitty. The idea evolves through three more stages; the Kitty II, a pond boat; the Kitty III, a bigger boat for Allie to sail in river races; and finally, when Allie turns eighteen, the Kitty IV, in which they planned to sail to England in. Unfortunately, after the boat's launch, Arthur collapses, and is diagnosed with a terminal brain tumour. He finishes telling his story to Allie, who types it up, and the first part of the book ends days before his death.
Allie goes on the search for Kitty, setting up the Kitty IV website. The Kitty 4 boat is made so that when it is knocked over, it flips back up, representing her and her father's fighting spirits. During the search an albatross befriends Allie, who believes it to be Arthur's spirit, because he loved albatrosses. Allie sends emails to her family and during the quest, she finds that her grandpa and a scientist are above her in the sky, she finds out where Kitty is, she accidentally kills the Albatross but, Arthur's spirit marges into a turtle, and Kitty IV is badly damaged. Soon she arrives at England meeting an old woman, who is Kitty. She takes the key, puts it into a music box, and it opens, singing London Bridge Is Falling Down, one of Arthur's favourite songs.