Uncharted

by Jon Gower

When a paper boat sets sail from Buenos Aires, grief and love are its only coordinates. On its miraculous voyage it is blown and buffeted between this world and another, as its only passenger becomes the focus of international speculation, suspicion and devotion. A novel about tango, albatrosses and unfathomable mysteries, Uncharted takes us out into very deep water. At its heart lies the story of Horacio and Flavia, two ancient lovers who will not be parted, whatever happens.

238 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Jon Gower grew up in Llanelli. A former BBC Wales arts and media correspondent, he was educated at Girton College, Cambridge, where he read English. He is a documentary maker for television and radio with a third of a century's credits to his name. Recent documentaries cover subjects such as the secret life as a poet of Hollywood actor Robert Mitchum (based on the book 'Oh Dad!' by Lloyd Robson) and the Summer of Love in San Francisco.

Jon has eleven books to his name, in both Welsh and English. They include 'An Island Called Smith,' about a disappearing island in Chesapeake Bay, which gained him the John Morgan travel writing prize, and 'Uncharted', a novel described by Jan Morris as 'unflagging and unfailingly inventive.' In 2009 he was awarded a major Creative Wales award to explore the Welsh settlement in Patagonia.

Along with novelist Tiffany Murray, Jon is currently a Hay Festival International Fellow, and his next books will be a novel called 'Y Storiwr', due out in July 2011 and 'The Story of Wales' which will accompany a landmark BBC series, due to be broadcast early in 2012. His second volume of short stories 'Too Cold for Snow' will appear in May 2012 as will a joint publication about the Welsh coastline where his text complements beautiful photography by Jeremy Moore.

In what little spare time he has Jon develops and performs theatre pieces with actor Gerald Tyler and trumpeter Tomos Williams, and reads, both to his children and occasionally by himself!

Jon lives in Cardiff with his wife Sarah and two book-loving daughters Elena and Onwy.

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. This has been sitting in my shelf for a long time because, obviously having found some reason to want to buy it originally, whenever I’ve come up against it since it really hasn’t appealed. Thankfully having finally come around to picking it up I’ve discovered that it’s quite the little gem. I don’t think the blurb really gives any idea what it is as a book and maybe that’s the best way to go in to it.

It was originally written in Welsh and then rewritten by the author in English and it is a very Welsh but also a very European sort of book. There is a lot of Dylan Thomas-esque poetic writing (including a Bible black sea), and a mystical, fable-like vagueness (in the best sort of way) but also a (to me) more European style of picking and expanding on little random snippets of facts and stories that can feel that they have little to do with the main narrative. Personally, if done well I love this sort of thing. I’m a proper magpie when it comes to odd little facts picked up through what feel like random transgressions and this goes all over - from Indonesian literature (specifically the Buru quartet) to an in depth description of Caroline Street in Cardiff, better known as Chip Alley and everywhere in between.

I think it was a difficult book to finish satisfactorily and I feel as if maybe it got a little bit too random in the run up to this, but, although it won’t be for everyone, I really enjoyed it and it was certainly different to the norm.