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Alone on a Wide Wide Sea
How far would you go to find yourself? This is the lyrical, life-affirming new novel from Michael Morpurgo.
When orphaned Arthur Hobhouse is shipped to Australia after World War II he loses his sister, his country and everything he knows. The coming years will test him to his limits, as he endures mistreatment, neglect and forced labour in the Australian outback. But Arthur is also saved, again and again, by his love of the sea. And when he meets a nurse whose father owns a boat-building business, all the pieces of his broken life come together.
Now, at the end of his life, Arthur has built a special boat for his daughter Allie, whose love of the sea is as strong and as vital as her father’s. Now Allie has a boat that will take her to England solo, across the world’s roughest seas, in search of her father’s long-lost sister. Will the threads of Arthur’s life finally come together?
When orphaned Arthur Hobhouse is shipped to Australia after World War II he loses his sister, his country and everything he knows. The coming years will test him to his limits, as he endures mistreatment, neglect and forced labour in the Australian outback. But Arthur is also saved, again and again, by his love of the sea. And when he meets a nurse whose father owns a boat-building business, all the pieces of his broken life come together.
Now, at the end of his life, Arthur has built a special boat for his daughter Allie, whose love of the sea is as strong and as vital as her father’s. Now Allie has a boat that will take her to England solo, across the world’s roughest seas, in search of her father’s long-lost sister. Will the threads of Arthur’s life finally come together?
320 pages, Paperback
First published September 4, 2006
174 people are currently reading
2320 people want to read
About the author
Michael Morpurgo
626 books3,008 followersSir Michael Andrew Morpurgo, OBE, FRSL is the author of many books for children, five of which have been made into films. He also writes his own screenplays and libretti for opera. Born in St Albans, Hertfordshire, in 1943, he was evacuated to Cumberland during the last years of the Second World War, then returned to London, moving later to Essex. After a brief and unsuccessful spell in the army, he took up teaching and started to write. He left teaching after ten years in order to set up 'Farms for City Children' with his wife. They have three farms in Devon, Wales and Gloucestershire, open to inner city school children who come to stay and work with the animals. In 1999 this work was publicly recognised when he and his wife were invested a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to youth. In 2003, he was advanced to an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). He became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (FRSL) in 2004. He was knighted in the 2018 for his services to literature and charity. He is also a father and grandfather, so children have always played a large part in his life. Every year he and his family spend time in the Scilly Isles, the setting for three of his books.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 473 reviews
July 14, 2016
An incredibly moving, powerful and compelling story from the talented Michael Morpurgo, Alone on a Wide Wide Sea is based on the harrowing scandal of the Child Migration Scheme of the mid-nineteenth century, where thousands of children were shipped to Australia, mainly to solve the problem of overcrowding in British orphanages.
Orphaned during WW11, six-year old Arthur Hobhouse is separated from his sister, Kitty, when he is sent on a horrendous voyage to Australia in 1947, losing not only his birth country and everything he knew, but also his very identity.
Throughout his early harsh and cruel years in the Australian outback, Arthur gained solace from his only possession: a “lucky” key his sister, Kitty gave him before they were separated, as well as the song London Bridge is Falling Down playing over and over in his mind.
Despite suffering unspeakable hardships with fellow orphan Marty, Arthur ends up becoming a master-boat builder. He builds a yacht for his daughter Allie, in which she wants to sail to England in search of Kitty, her father’s long-lost sister.
This is where the second part of the story begins: a largely one-way conversation via email from Allie as she embarks on her long and difficult voyage to England.
Through his lyrical and moving prose, the author evokes a whole array of emotions: desperation, sadness and misery, through to frustration and inspiration.
Apart from the harrowing issues of the treatment suffered by the orphans, this story also explores the strength of family ties and the need to know who you are, and where you come from, something that was stripped from the children as soon as they set foot on the boat that would take them to Australia.
Based on fact, this heart-warming, heart-wrenching story brings history alive, and I would recommend it not only to young readers, but for adults too.
Orphaned during WW11, six-year old Arthur Hobhouse is separated from his sister, Kitty, when he is sent on a horrendous voyage to Australia in 1947, losing not only his birth country and everything he knew, but also his very identity.
Throughout his early harsh and cruel years in the Australian outback, Arthur gained solace from his only possession: a “lucky” key his sister, Kitty gave him before they were separated, as well as the song London Bridge is Falling Down playing over and over in his mind.
Despite suffering unspeakable hardships with fellow orphan Marty, Arthur ends up becoming a master-boat builder. He builds a yacht for his daughter Allie, in which she wants to sail to England in search of Kitty, her father’s long-lost sister.
This is where the second part of the story begins: a largely one-way conversation via email from Allie as she embarks on her long and difficult voyage to England.
Through his lyrical and moving prose, the author evokes a whole array of emotions: desperation, sadness and misery, through to frustration and inspiration.
Apart from the harrowing issues of the treatment suffered by the orphans, this story also explores the strength of family ties and the need to know who you are, and where you come from, something that was stripped from the children as soon as they set foot on the boat that would take them to Australia.
Based on fact, this heart-warming, heart-wrenching story brings history alive, and I would recommend it not only to young readers, but for adults too.
June 21, 2018
Every time I read Michael Morpugo's books it always made me feel like there is a hole inside my heart. It always left me thinking about my own life.
He is indeed a storyteller. He wrote it simply from his heart, it feel like the book is talking to it's reader. The words is simple and his book is great for children. I cry and thinking deeply of his words.
What I like the most of this book is it's seem so real. He wrote from two perspectives that is the father who once is only a little boy and another part is from his daughter's perspective. I love the father's parts more, indeed this is his story after all.
The book start with an end. I like it though. Then I like this quote the most:
"Even if things don't seem to be working out quite as you'd like them to, you need to feel they're going to, that all will be well in the end"
I also agree that we live in our childhood life more than the times take. We remember more of our childhood moments compare to our old life. Time also seem to run faster when we are older. It's just run. a year seems shorter than it was before. It's just true.
I hope my goodreads friends will try to read Michaels Morpurgo's book. He is a great story teller. Trust me!
He is indeed a storyteller. He wrote it simply from his heart, it feel like the book is talking to it's reader. The words is simple and his book is great for children. I cry and thinking deeply of his words.
What I like the most of this book is it's seem so real. He wrote from two perspectives that is the father who once is only a little boy and another part is from his daughter's perspective. I love the father's parts more, indeed this is his story after all.
The book start with an end. I like it though. Then I like this quote the most:
"Even if things don't seem to be working out quite as you'd like them to, you need to feel they're going to, that all will be well in the end"
I also agree that we live in our childhood life more than the times take. We remember more of our childhood moments compare to our old life. Time also seem to run faster when we are older. It's just run. a year seems shorter than it was before. It's just true.
I hope my goodreads friends will try to read Michaels Morpurgo's book. He is a great story teller. Trust me!
August 12, 2019
(2.5) In this novel for older children, Michael Morpurgo presents the story of orphan Arthur Hobhouse, thought to be born sometime around 1940 in Bermondsey, London. In 1946, when he’s only six years old, he and a large group of other child migrant boys are sent by ship to Australia. Marty (Arthur’s ten-year-old friend and protector) tells the younger boy that all of them have been “specially chosen from all the orphans in England” to go to the brand new country of Australia, a place unaffected by war where food is abundant and warm-hearted families are waiting to look after them.
The truth, of course, is a lot less lovely. As the author notes in the afterword, unwanted and orphaned children were troublesome to the British government. Getting the kids out of England’s slums and sending them off to the colonies was considered a good way to solve the problem. Morpurgo writes that from 1947 to 1967 somewhere between 7,000 to 11,000 British children were sent to Australia. Some of these kids got lucky: they were placed in loving homes and got a step up in life. A lot were not: they were abused and exploited. Some laboured on farms like slaves, enduring harsh, even cruel conditions. Morpurgo chose to create fiction around one of these unfortunates.
His central character, Arthur, along with nine other boys (including Marty), ends up at Cooper Station, a large farming outfit some 300 miles from Sydney. The place is run by a former fire-and-brimstone-style preacher, Mr. “Piggy” Bacon and his meek and subservient wife, Ida. The Dickensian Piggy drives the boys hard and relishes strapping them for the most minor of infractions. He regularly holds a sort of “punishment hour” every evening to deal with each day’s misdemeanours.
One boy runs away from the farm. His dead body is returned a day later by local Aboriginal people. Arthur and Marty are luckier. Help comes from an unexpected source when Marty decides it’s time for them to try escaping. One evening, the boys’ dormitory door is actually unlocked for them. The two flee the cattle station on a beloved old horse. Out on the scrubland, the boys receive further surprising assistance and are brought to a place of safety. For a number of years, Arthur and Marty experience the feeling of family. In their teens, they leave for Sydney where they learn the boat-building trade.
In this first part of the novel, Arthur and Marty often attribute any positive thing that comes their way to a good luck charm that Arthur wears on a string around his neck. It’s a tiny key that Arthur believes was given to him by his sister, Kitty. His memories of her are so fragmentary, however, that he isn’t even sure she exists. Marty has a dream of the two one day sailing to England in one of their own hand-built boats to find her.
The second part of the novel turns from Arthur’s story to his daughter Allie’s. Her quest is to sail to England from Tasmania in order to fulfill her father’s dream of finding Kitty, should she exist. Allie has been around boats all her life. She learned to sail early and is a highly competent sailor. Her stormy adventures on the sea (described in the upbeat, lightly punctuated, and abbreviated prose of the logbook and email) make up the second half of the book. I have to admit that I sometimes wondered why she didn’t just take a plane. I also tired of her email reports documenting her memorization of her father’s favourite poem, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.
Although there is certainly sadness and hardship in Morpurgo’s narrative (both father and daughter experience dark nights of the soul), its contents are largely of the “heartwarming” variety. Characters are not particularly complex. It’s easy to separate the good guys from the bad. The conclusion is happy—predictably so. While there is a feeling of authenticity to the narration—two quite real-sounding voices (Arthur’s and Allie’s) are heard telling what happened to them in everyday language—the prose suffers a little for this authorial decision. At times, it is repetitive, wordy, bland, and cliché-ridden. In spite of this, I can imagine some of the young people I know enjoying this essentially positive, somewhat sentimental, and fairly undemanding story of familial love.
The truth, of course, is a lot less lovely. As the author notes in the afterword, unwanted and orphaned children were troublesome to the British government. Getting the kids out of England’s slums and sending them off to the colonies was considered a good way to solve the problem. Morpurgo writes that from 1947 to 1967 somewhere between 7,000 to 11,000 British children were sent to Australia. Some of these kids got lucky: they were placed in loving homes and got a step up in life. A lot were not: they were abused and exploited. Some laboured on farms like slaves, enduring harsh, even cruel conditions. Morpurgo chose to create fiction around one of these unfortunates.
His central character, Arthur, along with nine other boys (including Marty), ends up at Cooper Station, a large farming outfit some 300 miles from Sydney. The place is run by a former fire-and-brimstone-style preacher, Mr. “Piggy” Bacon and his meek and subservient wife, Ida. The Dickensian Piggy drives the boys hard and relishes strapping them for the most minor of infractions. He regularly holds a sort of “punishment hour” every evening to deal with each day’s misdemeanours.
One boy runs away from the farm. His dead body is returned a day later by local Aboriginal people. Arthur and Marty are luckier. Help comes from an unexpected source when Marty decides it’s time for them to try escaping. One evening, the boys’ dormitory door is actually unlocked for them. The two flee the cattle station on a beloved old horse. Out on the scrubland, the boys receive further surprising assistance and are brought to a place of safety. For a number of years, Arthur and Marty experience the feeling of family. In their teens, they leave for Sydney where they learn the boat-building trade.
In this first part of the novel, Arthur and Marty often attribute any positive thing that comes their way to a good luck charm that Arthur wears on a string around his neck. It’s a tiny key that Arthur believes was given to him by his sister, Kitty. His memories of her are so fragmentary, however, that he isn’t even sure she exists. Marty has a dream of the two one day sailing to England in one of their own hand-built boats to find her.
The second part of the novel turns from Arthur’s story to his daughter Allie’s. Her quest is to sail to England from Tasmania in order to fulfill her father’s dream of finding Kitty, should she exist. Allie has been around boats all her life. She learned to sail early and is a highly competent sailor. Her stormy adventures on the sea (described in the upbeat, lightly punctuated, and abbreviated prose of the logbook and email) make up the second half of the book. I have to admit that I sometimes wondered why she didn’t just take a plane. I also tired of her email reports documenting her memorization of her father’s favourite poem, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.
Although there is certainly sadness and hardship in Morpurgo’s narrative (both father and daughter experience dark nights of the soul), its contents are largely of the “heartwarming” variety. Characters are not particularly complex. It’s easy to separate the good guys from the bad. The conclusion is happy—predictably so. While there is a feeling of authenticity to the narration—two quite real-sounding voices (Arthur’s and Allie’s) are heard telling what happened to them in everyday language—the prose suffers a little for this authorial decision. At times, it is repetitive, wordy, bland, and cliché-ridden. In spite of this, I can imagine some of the young people I know enjoying this essentially positive, somewhat sentimental, and fairly undemanding story of familial love.
January 5, 2021
Am I crying? Yes I am!
This book is a gem. Michael Morpurgo, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you! These 'thank you's can never be enough!
This book follows the life of Arthur Hobhouse, then the journey of his daughter, Alexie (Allie) Hobhouse. Arthur, when he was 6, was transported to Australia. He didn't know who his family was, but he remembered his elder sister, Kitty, who had given him a lucky key to where. In Australia, he was a part of a farm, which had made his life a living hell. The farmer was...ugh.
Then, he was with Aunty Megs. An animal lover, and a farm owner. She would take care of the wild animals, and then leave them on their own, as they grew up. She had a wombat - Henry, who stole many fabrics! And Barnaby, a donkey, who would never do an ee-aw!
She was so good, I loved her so much. So much. But then, the kids were growing up, and she had to leave them, didn't she?
With Aunty Megs, Arthur and Marty had learned building yachts, and now they were building bigger yachts and boats. They would go for trials on the sea and soon came to love it.
The rest of the journey was hard for me to follow, because of the tears in my eyes. The deaths, ugh.
Then came his family, and Allie. The parts with Aunty Megs and Zita were the best of all.
Then we follow Allie's journey. With her father's lucky key, the emails, a guardian Albatross, and Kitty 4, why fear?
It wasn't a private journey, Allie had a website for tracking how far Kitty 4 went, and for tracking the real Kitty. There were interviews and so many articles.
This journey was so heartfelt. Sometimes I doubted that they would ever find Kitty, but see for yourself. All the questions are clear.
I loved it, with all my heart. I just want more.
➵ 𝟺 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚜
Also posted on my blog.
This book is a gem. Michael Morpurgo, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you! These 'thank you's can never be enough!
This book follows the life of Arthur Hobhouse, then the journey of his daughter, Alexie (Allie) Hobhouse. Arthur, when he was 6, was transported to Australia. He didn't know who his family was, but he remembered his elder sister, Kitty, who had given him a lucky key to where. In Australia, he was a part of a farm, which had made his life a living hell. The farmer was...ugh.
Then, he was with Aunty Megs. An animal lover, and a farm owner. She would take care of the wild animals, and then leave them on their own, as they grew up. She had a wombat - Henry, who stole many fabrics! And Barnaby, a donkey, who would never do an ee-aw!
She was so good, I loved her so much. So much. But then, the kids were growing up, and she had to leave them, didn't she?
With Aunty Megs, Arthur and Marty had learned building yachts, and now they were building bigger yachts and boats. They would go for trials on the sea and soon came to love it.
The rest of the journey was hard for me to follow, because of the tears in my eyes. The deaths, ugh.
Then came his family, and Allie. The parts with Aunty Megs and Zita were the best of all.
Then we follow Allie's journey. With her father's lucky key, the emails, a guardian Albatross, and Kitty 4, why fear?
It wasn't a private journey, Allie had a website for tracking how far Kitty 4 went, and for tracking the real Kitty. There were interviews and so many articles.
This journey was so heartfelt. Sometimes I doubted that they would ever find Kitty, but see for yourself. All the questions are clear.
I loved it, with all my heart. I just want more.
➵ 𝟺 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚜
Also posted on my blog.
March 14, 2021
ce roman, il est émouvant sans bon sens. c’est une vie de pourquoi, c’est un jeune Arthur qui déporté et envoyé en Australie. là où il n’a aucun repère, il s’en crée finalement et se recrée une famille. c’est une histoire de valeurs, de famille, de rêverie, c’est de prendre la mer et c’est une traversée hors du commun. «seul sur la mer immense », c’est aussi Michael Morpurgo et sa plume et sa manière de se raconter. c’est un auteur que je viens de découvrir et que je relirai sans aucun doute ✨
arrêtons de nous arrêter à l’étiquette roman jeunesse. ce livre, il est beau , doux et renversant et il nous fait voyager; c’est donc tout ce qui compte et n’importe quel adulte ou adolescent qui l’aura entre les mains saura apprécier la grandeur de cette histoire.
arrêtons de nous arrêter à l’étiquette roman jeunesse. ce livre, il est beau , doux et renversant et il nous fait voyager; c’est donc tout ce qui compte et n’importe quel adulte ou adolescent qui l’aura entre les mains saura apprécier la grandeur de cette histoire.
August 13, 2017
From BBC Radio 2:
Episode 1 of 4
Arthur Hobhouse and his friend Marty meet for the first time on a boat bound for Australia. They are part of a consignment of child migrants sent from Britain to find new and better lives in Australia. The boys are sent to work at Cooper's Station, under the care of the cruel and vindictive Piggy Bacon.
Episode 2 of 4
Arthur and Marty manage to escape the hands of the vicious, religious sadist Piggy Bacon. They flee into the unforgiving Australian outback where they find a temporary sanctuary with the kind and generous Aunty Megs. They stay with her for 5 years, working on her farm. All goes well for them until they have to leave to make their own way in the wide world.
Episode 3 of 4
Facing hard times, Arthur and Marty turn to drink. Arthur ends up in hospital where he falls in love with a nurse, Zita, marries and has a daughter. Arthur and his daughter Allie decide to build a small boat to sail from Australia to England in search of Arthur's long lost sister Kitty. When Arthur dies unexpectedly, the trip is put on hold until Allie announces that she will make the 15,000 mile journey round the world to find Kitty on her own.
Episode 4 of 4
Allie Hobhouse decides to sail solo to England to look for her Aunty Kitty. She rounds Cape Horn, has an unexpected encounter with a space traveller, is shipwrecked and eventually finds herself in London. Will she find her Aunty Kitty? Find out in this, the final episode of Michael Morpurgo's Alone On A Wide Wide Sea.
Alone On A Wide Wide Sea was written by Michael Morpurgo, adapted for Radio 2 by Ian McMillan and stars Jason Donovan, Olivia Beardsley and Toby Jones.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08zqpv0
4* War Horse (War Horse, #1)
3* Private Peaceful
CR Alone on a Wide Wide Sea
TR An Elephant in the Garden
Episode 1 of 4
Arthur Hobhouse and his friend Marty meet for the first time on a boat bound for Australia. They are part of a consignment of child migrants sent from Britain to find new and better lives in Australia. The boys are sent to work at Cooper's Station, under the care of the cruel and vindictive Piggy Bacon.
Episode 2 of 4
Arthur and Marty manage to escape the hands of the vicious, religious sadist Piggy Bacon. They flee into the unforgiving Australian outback where they find a temporary sanctuary with the kind and generous Aunty Megs. They stay with her for 5 years, working on her farm. All goes well for them until they have to leave to make their own way in the wide world.
Episode 3 of 4
Facing hard times, Arthur and Marty turn to drink. Arthur ends up in hospital where he falls in love with a nurse, Zita, marries and has a daughter. Arthur and his daughter Allie decide to build a small boat to sail from Australia to England in search of Arthur's long lost sister Kitty. When Arthur dies unexpectedly, the trip is put on hold until Allie announces that she will make the 15,000 mile journey round the world to find Kitty on her own.
Episode 4 of 4
Allie Hobhouse decides to sail solo to England to look for her Aunty Kitty. She rounds Cape Horn, has an unexpected encounter with a space traveller, is shipwrecked and eventually finds herself in London. Will she find her Aunty Kitty? Find out in this, the final episode of Michael Morpurgo's Alone On A Wide Wide Sea.
Alone On A Wide Wide Sea was written by Michael Morpurgo, adapted for Radio 2 by Ian McMillan and stars Jason Donovan, Olivia Beardsley and Toby Jones.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08zqpv0
4* War Horse (War Horse, #1)
3* Private Peaceful
CR Alone on a Wide Wide Sea
TR An Elephant in the Garden
August 15, 2012
This was the first book i ever remember loving. I read it when i was ten and up until I was 13 (when i read the hunger games) it was my faveourite book. Its what really got me into books, i alwaysliked reading but i didnt realise until then i could fall in love with characters, care about their journies as much as my own-sometimes even more so- hate their enemies, love their friends. It was a truly amazing book.
I loved it because it started from the start. It started when Arthur and Marty were just children, not knowing what was happening to them, confused and afraid they stuck together during the good times and the bad. The book followed the story of their lives together, struggling to find their way in a land they do not know, the only thing they have is each other and it really is the most beautiful of friendships.
It was also bittersweet, in some ways happy, in others not so much but i still loved it, even through the sad parts and the parts where you felt they could not possiblely go on.
April 14, 2015
I really don't understand all the Michael Morpurgo love. I HATE his books. Hate them with a passion. I've read this one and Kensuke's Kingdom, and both of them were horribly boring, the writing style is nothing special, and they're just plain depressing. I genuinely think Morpurgo is physically incapable of writing anything cheerful, and it's very, very irritating.
December 23, 2014
It's difficult to figure out what audience this is for. I am pretty sure this is a young adult book, the writing was too plain to be for an adult and the themes too mature for a young audience. I really enjoyed the first half but the second part with the emails really bored me. I liked the overall story and could see why it is really loved but its not my taste.
June 2, 2022
I read a lot of Morpurgo's books as a child, they were a major part of my development as a reader, and a source of comfort for a lonely kid. I never read this one though and I'm really glad I have now. Literally, the first book to make me actively cry this year. The writing didn't even feel too young which was great, i was utterly immersed in the stories. Morpurgo still hits a decade later :))
July 24, 2017
Morpurgo at his very best - this is one definitely not to be missed.
December 23, 2020
WARNING: I am going to be totally biased with this author because, well, I love him so very, very much.
I picked up Alone on a Wide, Wide Sea from my shelves yesterday. I chose to read it because I wanted to read it, and it wasn't one of my obligatory books.
I had looked at it in the shops, seen the diagrams of boats, the maps - this immeadiately appealed to me. And that fact that it's written by one of my favourite authors of all time helped, too.
The book was in itself amazing, truly inspiring. I loved the poignant journey of Arthur across Australia. Morpurgo brought every sense alive. The themes in the book were actually quite adult, beyond the '11-12 year old' readers sections. Slavery, opression, religion, gambling, death, suicide...it's all there. What is perhaps most amazing is the constant referencing to literature - Londond Bridge is Falling Down, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. I cried, I laughed. I just was so absorbed in this book. It took me just this morning to read it. That's the magic of a book like this. I havn't read anything all the way through, from just picking it up one morning, for a long, long time. It was also the first time I honestly cried at a book for ages, too.
I didn't really like the second part as much as the first, but that's maybe because I like the way Morpurgo can suck you into history, and so when he writes as if in the present, it jars, somehow.
I have grown up with this author - ever since primary school and The Butterfly Lion I have constantly been touched by his writing. I could only ever wish to write as he does, to touch people the way he does.
He's the person I would really like to meet, if I could choose anybody.
I picked up Alone on a Wide, Wide Sea from my shelves yesterday. I chose to read it because I wanted to read it, and it wasn't one of my obligatory books.
I had looked at it in the shops, seen the diagrams of boats, the maps - this immeadiately appealed to me. And that fact that it's written by one of my favourite authors of all time helped, too.
The book was in itself amazing, truly inspiring. I loved the poignant journey of Arthur across Australia. Morpurgo brought every sense alive. The themes in the book were actually quite adult, beyond the '11-12 year old' readers sections. Slavery, opression, religion, gambling, death, suicide...it's all there. What is perhaps most amazing is the constant referencing to literature - Londond Bridge is Falling Down, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. I cried, I laughed. I just was so absorbed in this book. It took me just this morning to read it. That's the magic of a book like this. I havn't read anything all the way through, from just picking it up one morning, for a long, long time. It was also the first time I honestly cried at a book for ages, too.
I didn't really like the second part as much as the first, but that's maybe because I like the way Morpurgo can suck you into history, and so when he writes as if in the present, it jars, somehow.
I have grown up with this author - ever since primary school and The Butterfly Lion I have constantly been touched by his writing. I could only ever wish to write as he does, to touch people the way he does.
He's the person I would really like to meet, if I could choose anybody.
November 30, 2014
I love love love this book, I read it when I was younger and decided to pick it up again and was so glad I did, unlike some things you revisit from childhood this didn't disappoint, this book has everything, adventure, the sea, love, loss, animals, literally everything, only morpurgo can put so much into a plot, which would make it unbelievable if someone else was writing it besides him, but it really works, it's both real and out there and teaches you to dream. The relationship between Arthur hobhouse and Marty, from the beginning of the book was amazon hit was really touching, because even though these two are orphaned and being shipped of to Australia, they still have each other. I loved the humour and the animals, like big black jack, gorgeous big black jack and Henry the wombat that steals your socks.... And just about anything else too. The second part of the book is narrated by Allie, Arthur's daughter, this wasn't as good as the first half in my opinion but I still loved her adventure and kitty four, loved kitty four. The end of the book is just as good and I liked the fact there is a historical context to this novel in that children were orphaned in the war and sent of to Australia, with no idea whatsoever what they would be arriving to. This book just stunning.
November 3, 2012
Wonderful, wonderful book!
So why have I only given it three stars? Why did I debate with myself whether I'd give it less?
Well, because it can't make up its mind whether it's a book for kids, for adults or for young adults. As an adult I love it, as a kid I would have hated it and I'm not sure what I'd have thought of it as a teenager. Probably been baffled by it.
Arthur Hobhouse is re-telling the story of his childhood. That's the kid's part and although it's grim reading in parts (being based on the story of child migrants forcibly shipped to Australia, it ends on a hopeful note. However, when the story transitions into Arthur's adult life, it's no longer really a tale for kids.
Then, in an entirely separate section, there's the story of Arthur's daughter Alexis - or Allie - who sails solo to England from Australia. This part, inspired by Coleridge's poem, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner seemed a bit drawn out. I would have been better as a sequel, I think.
The connecting thread in all the various parts of the story is the key Arthur's sister Kitty gave him which he regards as his lucky talisman throughout his life.
So why have I only given it three stars? Why did I debate with myself whether I'd give it less?
Well, because it can't make up its mind whether it's a book for kids, for adults or for young adults. As an adult I love it, as a kid I would have hated it and I'm not sure what I'd have thought of it as a teenager. Probably been baffled by it.
Arthur Hobhouse is re-telling the story of his childhood. That's the kid's part and although it's grim reading in parts (being based on the story of child migrants forcibly shipped to Australia, it ends on a hopeful note. However, when the story transitions into Arthur's adult life, it's no longer really a tale for kids.
Then, in an entirely separate section, there's the story of Arthur's daughter Alexis - or Allie - who sails solo to England from Australia. This part, inspired by Coleridge's poem, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner seemed a bit drawn out. I would have been better as a sequel, I think.
The connecting thread in all the various parts of the story is the key Arthur's sister Kitty gave him which he regards as his lucky talisman throughout his life.
March 27, 2019
EDIT: Just reread my childhood favourite. It didn't disappoint. I want to reread my whole Morpurgo collection, and maybe I will. Considering I study TROTAM, I loved the references. Thank you for this book.
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Since I was about twelve, this has been one of my favourite books.
I'm not actually someone who goes for a really realistic book, I much prefer fantasy and fiction, for example, the divergent trilogy, but this was one of my first 'more mature' books that I had read.
It genuinely touched my heart.
I'm not going to spoil the story for you, but it will make you cry. Michael Morpurgo to me is a genius, thank you very much for giving the world this book.
Now I don't even own this in physical book form, I first borrowed it from a library and later got it on my kindle fire, but being one of my favourites I think I need to buy it!
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Since I was about twelve, this has been one of my favourite books.
I'm not actually someone who goes for a really realistic book, I much prefer fantasy and fiction, for example, the divergent trilogy, but this was one of my first 'more mature' books that I had read.
It genuinely touched my heart.
I'm not going to spoil the story for you, but it will make you cry. Michael Morpurgo to me is a genius, thank you very much for giving the world this book.
Now I don't even own this in physical book form, I first borrowed it from a library and later got it on my kindle fire, but being one of my favourites I think I need to buy it!
November 12, 2015
It's a book of two part's, I really enjoyed the first half that was telling the story of Arthur as an old man looking back through he's life like a memoir. The story continues through he's daughter in a collection of e-mails that she has sent.
I found the latter half story telling jarring and not as interesting. But overall there is an important message that Morpurgo explains the basis of the story in the afterword that makes this a worth wile read.
I found the latter half story telling jarring and not as interesting. But overall there is an important message that Morpurgo explains the basis of the story in the afterword that makes this a worth wile read.
January 25, 2018
this book is incredibly powerful. it is micheal morpurgo's finest work and combines 2 related parts into one book
February 29, 2024
During and after the 2nd ww, children were evacuated from England to countries of the commonwealth namely Australia, Canada and New Zealand. This was done in order to safeguard the children and find a safe refuge for them in a loving family. Alone on a wide wide sea is a fictional story of the young life of one Arthur Hobhouse despatched on a boat to Australia and hopefully safety. Unfortunately it was not uncommon for these young people to be mistreated, beaten and used as a form of slave labour.
Arthurs story is aimed at a reading audience of 10+ and told with elegance and a certain aplong. In short it is beautifully written with many stand out moments. From the horror that was everyday life with " The Piggys"......" you're a slave they don't just take away your freedom, they take away everything else as well because they own you" The young man's journey has many unexpected moments and a beautifully orchestrated conclusion showcasing the author's love of the ocean and his utlimate belief in human nature....."Death, I discovered that day, is not frightening, because it is utterly still. And it is still because death, when it comes, is always over"....." Someties, though, the fog does clear, and you see the icebergs all around. You can hear them groaning, and grinding and you just want to sail through the field of iceberg and out the other side, or just long for the fog again".....
Highly recommended for young and old alike :)
Arthurs story is aimed at a reading audience of 10+ and told with elegance and a certain aplong. In short it is beautifully written with many stand out moments. From the horror that was everyday life with " The Piggys"......" you're a slave they don't just take away your freedom, they take away everything else as well because they own you" The young man's journey has many unexpected moments and a beautifully orchestrated conclusion showcasing the author's love of the ocean and his utlimate belief in human nature....."Death, I discovered that day, is not frightening, because it is utterly still. And it is still because death, when it comes, is always over"....." Someties, though, the fog does clear, and you see the icebergs all around. You can hear them groaning, and grinding and you just want to sail through the field of iceberg and out the other side, or just long for the fog again".....
Highly recommended for young and old alike :)
May 16, 2019
Le narrateur, Arthur Hobhouse, nous emmènent dans un grand voyage vers soi-même de l'enfance à la vieillesse : une histoire extraordinaire ! Finalement le relai de la narration est tranmis à sa fille que l'on suit pas à pas dans l'accomplissement de son rêve. C'est vrai plaisir-nostalgie de se mouvoir dans le monde merveilleux de Morpurgo avec des thèmes recurrents : une nature accueillante mais aussi des tempêtes qui nous éprouvent, le contact avec les animaux, l'amitié forte, le pays natal... Une lecture inspirante qui m'a pris plusieurs jours.
September 7, 2018
A short and fabulous book that was unputdownable for me. There are so many touching elements to embrace in this book; the upsides of a strong friendship and unconditional love to the harrowing disappointments of suffering and deprivation. What I enjoyed the most was the grit-laden seafaring solo journey by Arthur's daughter, Allie, to find her alleged aunt. I fondly remembered shades of Santiago's adventures from the Old Man and the Sea. And the ending isn't the banal reunion as I expected but is sweet and pleasant. Definitely one of the most awesome books I have read till date! I recommend it to all readers young and old.
Want to read
August 12, 201712 AUG 2017 - recommendation through Laura. Many Thanks!
August 14, 2025
Another moving story by Michael Morpurgo.
April 5, 2022
I will reread this but this book,from what I remember since year 3, is one of his best🛐🛐
August 1, 2025
I really enjoy Michael Morpurgo’s books. A teacher lending me a copy of the butterfly lion is one of the earliest memories I have. I didn’t realise until part way through this book that I have actually read it before, it must have been when I was much younger. I have very few memories of my pre-teen years but reading this brings back a really lovely feeling of nostalgia. This story is so touching and heartfelt. It deals with some heavy themes and I cried more than once while reading it, but I feel that the love and friendship will stick with me . One of my favourite books of all time.
June 1, 2012
Alone on a Wide Wide sea is about a boy, an orphan, named Arthur, who his separated from his sister when he is only a very small child. The book is very peculiar because Michael Morpurgo has made the character go into the future. He talks a bit about his childhood and then jumps into adulthood.
Arthur, a young orphan is cast on a ship during WW2 which brings him in a place he has never been to before. Australia. Far far away from his long lost sister in England which he has never see before. She departs on a different ship to work somewhere else. In Australia Arthur has to work with farm animals and is a slave like many others of his kind. He is given very little food and is beaten very often. He doesn't like it but he cannot escape...
With memories coming back from his childhood, Arthur has lived to become an adult and has a beautiful, determined daughter named Allie but he still hasn't found his long lost sister. Never giving up, he is determined to plan a trip with his daughter where they will go together and find Arthurs long lost sister by sailing the ocean with their newly built sailing boat called Kitty IV. Arthur built this boat in honor of his daughter as her love of the sea is as strong and important as his. The boat takes the name Killy IV because Arthur vaguely remembers his sister when they separated to work in different places. She gave him a pendant with a key attached to it hoping their connection will be stronger than ever. This key signifies that you can open any door to make your biggest dream come true. When tragedy strikes and Allie's father dies, Allie becomes even more desperate. Without her father to help her complete the mission, she thinks she cannot go on and look for her unknown Aunt. Heart low, Allie has the feeling that she will never be successful but she knows her father is watching over her every step of the way. With a determined mind and a strong heart, Allie sets on an adventure she will never forget. She sets sail 'Alone on a Wide Wide Sea'. On her way from Australia to England, Allie encounters very wild storms and has difficulties at sea. Will she find her fathers long lost sister in England? Or will she drown in the raging sea? The end of her journey is left a mystery to solve....
My favourite part is when Allie decides to depart on the journey by herself. I think this shows how determined she is and how much potential she has, (212) I thought that making a girl the hero of a book was a good idea because it shows that girls are sometimes stronger than boys. But girls are strong in their heart but not as strong physically. It made me really sad when Arthur's friend Wes dies (74). I thought about all the young adults fighting to death in WW2 to protect their countries.
I think this book is an excellent read because it really shows you how you can get separated during the war and how a family can reunite after so many years. It also show how strong a family can be bonded together. I recommend this book to children from the ages 12+ because it contains some language, which may be a bit difficult to understand at times but in all I think that the book is written with a lot of description. This helps the reader understand the content of the book better. I also recommend this book to people who are interested to learn about World War 2 and people who like to discover how a child can fulfill her father's and her own dream with such passion and determination. The book shows how strong friendship can be and I think it is very important to have strong friendship in your life.
Arthur, a young orphan is cast on a ship during WW2 which brings him in a place he has never been to before. Australia. Far far away from his long lost sister in England which he has never see before. She departs on a different ship to work somewhere else. In Australia Arthur has to work with farm animals and is a slave like many others of his kind. He is given very little food and is beaten very often. He doesn't like it but he cannot escape...
With memories coming back from his childhood, Arthur has lived to become an adult and has a beautiful, determined daughter named Allie but he still hasn't found his long lost sister. Never giving up, he is determined to plan a trip with his daughter where they will go together and find Arthurs long lost sister by sailing the ocean with their newly built sailing boat called Kitty IV. Arthur built this boat in honor of his daughter as her love of the sea is as strong and important as his. The boat takes the name Killy IV because Arthur vaguely remembers his sister when they separated to work in different places. She gave him a pendant with a key attached to it hoping their connection will be stronger than ever. This key signifies that you can open any door to make your biggest dream come true. When tragedy strikes and Allie's father dies, Allie becomes even more desperate. Without her father to help her complete the mission, she thinks she cannot go on and look for her unknown Aunt. Heart low, Allie has the feeling that she will never be successful but she knows her father is watching over her every step of the way. With a determined mind and a strong heart, Allie sets on an adventure she will never forget. She sets sail 'Alone on a Wide Wide Sea'. On her way from Australia to England, Allie encounters very wild storms and has difficulties at sea. Will she find her fathers long lost sister in England? Or will she drown in the raging sea? The end of her journey is left a mystery to solve....
My favourite part is when Allie decides to depart on the journey by herself. I think this shows how determined she is and how much potential she has, (212) I thought that making a girl the hero of a book was a good idea because it shows that girls are sometimes stronger than boys. But girls are strong in their heart but not as strong physically. It made me really sad when Arthur's friend Wes dies (74). I thought about all the young adults fighting to death in WW2 to protect their countries.
I think this book is an excellent read because it really shows you how you can get separated during the war and how a family can reunite after so many years. It also show how strong a family can be bonded together. I recommend this book to children from the ages 12+ because it contains some language, which may be a bit difficult to understand at times but in all I think that the book is written with a lot of description. This helps the reader understand the content of the book better. I also recommend this book to people who are interested to learn about World War 2 and people who like to discover how a child can fulfill her father's and her own dream with such passion and determination. The book shows how strong friendship can be and I think it is very important to have strong friendship in your life.
May 31, 2015
I finally finished reading this book, and I have to say it was worth every minute. This book never left me bored, and always left me wanting more. The whole story and the entire basis of the novel was very interesting to me. When the narrator, Arthur Hobhouse described his first adventure out on the sea, I though that was it. I though that his journey from England to Australia was the reason behind the title "Alone on a Wide Wide Sea". But no. It took a little time in the novel, but Morpurgo found a way back to this theme of the sea. This is what I love about this book. That the beginning connects right to the ending. There is this string throughout the book, that kept me hooked. But instead of being just a long string from one end to the other, this string connected back, like a circle. I love that feeling at the end of a book, when it all somehow comes back to the beginning, it all connects to the title and the words the narrator said at the beginning. It is something that really makes this book for me.
The following paragraph contains spoilers :)
For me, this book was also written in a very unique and fascinating way. And as I kept on reading, I found it more and more fascinating. I first fell in love with its 'storytelling' style. With the narrator telling his life story. But as I got to the end of the book, it took a whole different turn. Turns out the narrator (Arthur Hobhouse) was in fact dying. It was his daughter, Allie, helping him write out this book. After Arthur dies, the book continues on with Allie. You can really see the different voices for both of these characters. And the rest of the story is told by Allie, along with the letters she writes. You see, at the beginning of the book, it was her father, Arthur, who got on a boat and sailed all the way to Australia. Near the end of the book, it is Allie, who gets on a boat and decides to go all the way back to England.
This is again what I was talking about above. This book comes around full circle. It lives through an entire generation. And this is probably not only telling the story of Arthur Hobhouse, but is similar to the stories of all of the other orphans that were shipped to Australia and Canada after WWII. Personally, I loved this story, and truly think this is a book worth reading.
The following paragraph contains spoilers :)
For me, this book was also written in a very unique and fascinating way. And as I kept on reading, I found it more and more fascinating. I first fell in love with its 'storytelling' style. With the narrator telling his life story. But as I got to the end of the book, it took a whole different turn. Turns out the narrator (Arthur Hobhouse) was in fact dying. It was his daughter, Allie, helping him write out this book. After Arthur dies, the book continues on with Allie. You can really see the different voices for both of these characters. And the rest of the story is told by Allie, along with the letters she writes. You see, at the beginning of the book, it was her father, Arthur, who got on a boat and sailed all the way to Australia. Near the end of the book, it is Allie, who gets on a boat and decides to go all the way back to England.
This is again what I was talking about above. This book comes around full circle. It lives through an entire generation. And this is probably not only telling the story of Arthur Hobhouse, but is similar to the stories of all of the other orphans that were shipped to Australia and Canada after WWII. Personally, I loved this story, and truly think this is a book worth reading.
January 27, 2023
That was such an incredibly poignant and brilliant book. It tugged at so many emotions and left me filled with a satiated sadness at the end of it.
The book is divided into two stories - the first told by Arthur Hobhouse and the second by his daughter Allie Hobhouse. Arthur's story is told from the beginning - from his childhood as an orphan - right upto his last days. Allie's story picks up from there, and narrates her journey from Australia to England by ship. I loved everything about this book, but I particularly loved reading about Arthur's childhood. His hardships and his happy days. I also loved Allie's journey, described wonderfully and which goes hand in hand with the favourite poem of Arthur's (and Allie's as well, I assume) - The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. And the ending was just so beautiful. Nearly left me in tears.
This book, I think, incredibly compelling and is infused with lots of quotes that made me sit back and reflect on my own life. Though the events in my own life are completely different from what happened to Arthur and Allie, I found myself applying their life lessons and things they say to myself, in a way that only a good book can make you do so. Highly recommend.
The book is divided into two stories - the first told by Arthur Hobhouse and the second by his daughter Allie Hobhouse. Arthur's story is told from the beginning - from his childhood as an orphan - right upto his last days. Allie's story picks up from there, and narrates her journey from Australia to England by ship. I loved everything about this book, but I particularly loved reading about Arthur's childhood. His hardships and his happy days. I also loved Allie's journey, described wonderfully and which goes hand in hand with the favourite poem of Arthur's (and Allie's as well, I assume) - The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. And the ending was just so beautiful. Nearly left me in tears.
This book, I think, incredibly compelling and is infused with lots of quotes that made me sit back and reflect on my own life. Though the events in my own life are completely different from what happened to Arthur and Allie, I found myself applying their life lessons and things they say to myself, in a way that only a good book can make you do so. Highly recommend.
May 16, 2016
Just... wow. There was an incredible journey through this book.
7 years ago this book was given to me on my birthday, and for 7 years I always looked at it on my shelf and thought, 'I'll read it soon.' Gosh, I wish I had read it sooner!
I don't think I've ever been interested in a book where one persons whole life is written on 300 pages but I'm so glad I gave it a go, so many of my own morals and my attitude towards my own life has changed ultimately due to this book.
Oh yeah, also my tear ducts are completely empty.
This is the first book I have read in one sitting and it was totally worth it. I've never read a Morpurgo book, but thank you, you clever genius for deciding to be an author! Definitely would recommend reading this book, even if you're the type of person who isn't a big fan of quite fast-paced stories!
7 years ago this book was given to me on my birthday, and for 7 years I always looked at it on my shelf and thought, 'I'll read it soon.' Gosh, I wish I had read it sooner!
I don't think I've ever been interested in a book where one persons whole life is written on 300 pages but I'm so glad I gave it a go, so many of my own morals and my attitude towards my own life has changed ultimately due to this book.
Oh yeah, also my tear ducts are completely empty.
This is the first book I have read in one sitting and it was totally worth it. I've never read a Morpurgo book, but thank you, you clever genius for deciding to be an author! Definitely would recommend reading this book, even if you're the type of person who isn't a big fan of quite fast-paced stories!
May 13, 2010
Being alone can be very scary. But having a guardian spirit to guide you can be uplifting. But killing the your liberator can sink you so low that you want to flip your boat and let the north atlantic swallow you and take your soul. Arthur Hobbhouse has never had a home so he thought that Australia could be a new start. Child labour is never fun so escape s the only option. A wildlife reserve is a great place to live because you can be as free as they are. Building models was a hobby now it is a life calling Sailing to england to find a posibily dead or non existant can be a hard task for your sanity.
The end of this book will make you cry and laugh ant the same time. Being part of what happened to arthur and kitty will make you feel out of this world
The end of this book will make you cry and laugh ant the same time. Being part of what happened to arthur and kitty will make you feel out of this world
September 11, 2015
There are so many layers to this book. Morpurgo twists together Coleridge's "Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner" with the stories of a father and daughter. The tragedy of the transportation of thousands of orphaned children from England to Australia post WWII forms one twist to the tale: a young girl sailing alone from Australia to England forms another. Morpurgo's genius is to find in this patchwork of stories a grand design that doesn't just tie them together, it takes the novel to a whole new level of meaning. A brilliant Middle School text that would be perfect for G7 or G8 students wanting to look for depth and complexity in their reading.
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