The Seafarers

by Nevil Shute, Dan Telfair (Foreword), Shoshana Milgram (Introduction)

Genres: Fiction

116 pages, Hardcover

First published May 15, 2002

About the author

Nevil Shute Norway was a popular British novelist and a successful aeronautical engineer.

He used Nevil Shute as his pen name, and his full name in his engineering career, in order to protect his engineering career from any potential negative publicity in connection with his novels.

He lived in Australia for the ten years before his death.

Reviews

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a delightful novella! It reminds me so much of Peace Breaks Out by Angela Thirkell. The characters in that novel and the two main characters in this novella, Jean and Donald, are desperately trying to fit into a post-war world. Peace is disorienting. Jean and Donald are young (21 and 25) and were in the Wrens and Royal Navy respectively. Their war work shaped them for lives ‘messing about with boats’ and living near and on the sea. How can they find their way forward in a brave new world? This novella is well crafted for a mere 100 pages. It has poignancy, adventure, misadventure, romance, a sweet parent-and-child relationship, and philosophical ponderings. Recommended! And now I’m off to read more Shute.

[Maura · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a previously unpublished novel found among the author's papers after his death. Really a novella - very short, but an interesting study of post WWII individuals in Britain. The intro spoke of it being about the need to find meaningful work or activity despite circumstances(such as in "On the Beach" by same author). In this case, the 2 characters find it difficult to adjust to civilan life after their war service - finding the usual jobs they normally would have done in life to be pretty bland now. Both struggle to fit back in. But to me the theme was more about the leveling effect of service - your economic background was hidden by uniforms and service pay. What you had been in civilan life didn't matter much once you were all in the service. But when our hero meets up with our heroine after demobilization, he realizes immediately from what she wears and where she stays in London that she is out of his league financially. And that makes all the difference to him - he doesn't want to be seen as a male gold-digger. Although the moeny issue doesn't matter to her, she realizes that it does to him, and she is at a loss. How they resolve the problem is connected with the meaningful work theme.

[Al · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Seafarers is a curiosity, a novella resurrected from Shute's unpublished papers, restored and published as a labor of love by a group of Shute fans. The story is a simple one, involving a British naval lieutenant and a Wren. They meet in the immediate aftermath of WW II, as the lieutenant's torpedo boat is being decommissioned at Portsmouth. Both are at loose ends as to postwar plans, love the sea, and have no training for other work. They bond, but the relationship falters when they reconnect in civilian life and learn that they inhabit different civilian social strata. Once again, though, Shute's heartwarming formula of work and good character overcoming long odds takes over and brings things right in the end. A nice read if you can find it.

[Scilla · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a love story between two young people who are getting out of the Navy after the war. Donald Wolf, a navy lieutenant is helping to decommission his gunboat, and Jean Porter, a Wren who is bringing the workmen to the gunboat each day. Jean is trying to light her stove in the small transport when Donald sees her and invites her into the gunboat to have tea with him. They hit it off, but after they return to their homes, Donald finds out that Jean comes from a very wealthy family and he, from a poor family does not have the money to support her. They both want to work with boats, but Jean is trying secretarial school and Donald is trying to be a marine insurance agent without much pay. However, their mutual love for the sea will win out.

[Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although reedited from a manuscript abandonned by Shute, this novelette bears all of his classic trademarks. A beautiful story of two RN personnel left directionless by demob at the end of WWII. He a Lieutenant and decorated commander of an MTB, she a WREN, working at the Naval dockyard Plymouth. From completely different spheres both in the navy and civvi street, but who knows what fate decrees.

[Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novella is pure Shute.

[Lili · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book I read years ago and I enjoyed it immensely. I’ve read all of Nevil Shute’s books. The best by far is “A Town Like Alice.”

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short Shute story - published long after his death from his papers.

Not really a full novel but his classic writing style. Knowing I would never again read a Shute book for the first time I read every page slowly to savour.