| Journey to the River Sea | |
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First Edition, hardcover |
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| Author(s) | Eva Ibbotson |
| Illustrator | Gina Suter |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Children's Adventure novel |
| Publisher | Macmillan Children's Books |
| Publication date | 2001 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback) |
| Pages | 298 pp |
| ISBN | 0-333-94740-1 |
Journey to the River Sea is an adventure novel written by Eva Ibbotson in an attempt to share her vision of the Amazon River. It is set mainly in Brazil early in the twentieth century and was first published in 2001.
Contents |
Maia is a thirteen-year old orphan and the heroine of the book. She journeys to the Amazon to live with her relatives. She is described as friendly, talented and bright. She is closest to her governess, Miss Minton (nicknamed Minty). Maia is a singer, and enjoys life to the fullest. It is hinted that she has romantic feelings for Finn.
Arabella Minton, or Minty (Called by Maia), is Maia's governess and is in charge of Maia's education. Miss Minton knew Bernard Taverner and was a maid at Westwood, the Taverner estate, some years ago. However, she was sacked for reading books in the library instead of dusting the shelves. She encourages Maia to read, as she loves to read as well. Finn's father's boat is also named after her.
Finn is the son of Bernard Taverner and Bernard's Xanti wife, Yara. Finn is skilled and cunning, smart and wise. He has many connections, and friends. He has black hair, brown eyes and is half European.
Later in the novel, he has Clovis take his place as heir to Westwood. Clovis finds it difficult to admit to this fact when he is there and Finn is happy to let him remain there.
Finn and Maia form a close bond. It is indicated that he shares romantic feelings for Maia, when asked by Clovis if he could "have Maia when she is grown-up." It is strongly implied that Finn has romantic feelings for Maia when the book quotes that his smile instantly fades and he replies "no."
Clovis, or Jimmy Bates, is an impoverished boy actor who dreams of going home to England. He has a mishap in Manaus and leaves the acting troupe.
Later, Clovis takes Finn's place and goes to England and there becomes heir to Westwood, but Clovis is not able to handle the pressure and wants to go back to as he used to live before he acted. He too has feelings for Maia, when he implies how much he misses her in several areas of the book and how Clovis mentions near the very end of the book if he could "Have Maia when she grow's up."
The twins, Beatrice and Gwendolyn, are the main antagonists of the novel. Mean, rude and selfish, they copy each other and do everything together, despite not liking each other. They think only of money and chocolate. They never go out of their houseboat (except when they go to the town) and are shocked when Maia asks them if they go for walks outside. They are scared by the animals and hate the natives. Later on in the novel , Maia and Finn exploit the twins' greed and have Clovis be caught by them and be thought of as "Finn". The twins lose the money that they received for turning "Finn" in, after a tragic fire in which the Carter home burns down. After the fire , they are penniless and are forced to become the servants of a mean, rich old lady (Lady Parsons) - a relative of theirs in England - who forces them to constantly work. Although they are the same age as Maia, they are slow at studying and they are often referred to as boring in Maia's point of view. They also enjoy torturing and making Maia's life miserable, but in the end their own life becomes miserable. Much like their Parents, Beatrice and Gwendolyn are two arrogant children who prefer themselves to the well being of others.
Mrs Carter is the twins' mother. It is clear she only took Maia in for the money that came with her. She uses this to buy various varieties of insect repellant as she is shown to hate bugs. She is also greedy and shown to be going mad towards the end of the book. She is in debt, and all the other families living in Manaus despise the Carters.
Mr Carter is the twins' father. He is in debt in Manaus and is wanted for fraud in England after robbing from a bank he worked in. He is shown to be manipulative and has an obsession with collecting famous peoples' glass eyes. At the end of the novel he is sent to prison in the Amazon after failing to pay workers and loan sharks.He also gets taken to prison by Gonzales.
The story takes place mainly in Manaus and the surrounding rainforest and river systems, but there are some scenes in England.
===Summary === England Maia is an orphan living in the Mayfair Academy for Young Ladies in England. However, word comes from Mr. Murray, a lawyer, that he had found her relatives that were willing to take her in, called the Carters. Along with a governess, Miss Minton, Maia goes by sea to Manaus, Brazil. On the ship, she meets a boy named Clovis King, who is traveling with his adoptive parents. He wishes to go back to England, to his foster mother, but the Goodleys (the acting troop) won't let him. Maia promises that she will go and see his play once in Brazil.
The Carters aren't as kind as she had hoped for. Beatrice and Gwendolyn, the twins, seem to be strictly British and not the least bit active. So when time comes to see Clovis's play in the town, the twins lie and say that all the tickets had sold out and they had not bought one for her. But Maia wants to see Clovis, and she secretly slips out of the Carters house and tries to get to Manaus. When she gets lost an Indian boy takes her to the theatre on his boat. When Maia finally gets to watch(Little Lord Fauntleroy) Clovis is acting very well, but in the most important part, his voice cracks and the play is ruined.Later, Maia meets a half-native, half-British boy called Finn Taverner and finds out that he was the boy who gave her a ride to Clovis's act. Men, who Maia nicknames "the crows", are chasing him because his grandfather had wanted to be the heir of Westwood, the estate of the wealthy Taverner family. Finn doesn't want to go, because he is wants to travel up the Amazon to where an Indian tribe(his mother's tribe)called the Xanti live. Afterward, Clovis meets Finn to and Finn suggests that they swap positions because Clovis wants to go back to England and Finn wants to stay in Brazil. Clovis will pretend to be Finn Taverner and become the heir to Westwood, while Finn will explore the "River Sea", which the name given to the Amazon River by locals. The swapping is successful, and for a while, everything seems to be going fairly well. But then one day, Miss Minton disappears. She has plans to rescue Maia from the Carters by taking the place of Mademoiselle Lille, the governess to a Russian family, the Keminskys, Maia's friends Sergei and Olga and their parents, the Count and Countess Keminsky. While she is gone, the twins accidentally start a fire in the Carters's home. Mrs Carter tries to kill a bug but the sprayer lid came off, spilling onto the oil lamp, burning the twins' bedroom and finally the whole house. The Carters are sent to the hospital in the river ambulance, but Maia is left on her own. She is found by Finn and he takes her on his boat, the "Arabella", to embark on the adventure she had hoped for. Miss Minton and her friend, Professor Neville Glastonberry, chase after them by boat as well. They find the Xanti and for a short time, they live with them and are perfectly happy. Then a problem presents itself. Maia is singing for the Xanti, and the police from Manaus hear her voice, and, thinking they will rescue Miss Minton, Maia, and the curator of the Natural History museum, take them back to Manaus. Clovis confesses that he is not the heir and wishes to go home. Finn tells his grandfather that he does not want to stay in England. Soon every thing becomes all right, Miss Minton, Maia, the professor and Finn all went back to Xanti in Brazil.
The book won the Nestle Smartie award in 2001. It received a gold medal/award in the category for 12-14 year olds. It has also been shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal 2002,[1] nominated for the Whitbread Book of the Year Award (Children's Book Category) in 2001 and Blue Peter Book Award (Book I Couldn't Put Down Prize) in 2002.
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