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The Voyage
David Lyon, a star of Canada's foreign service, is on the brink of a career breakthrough. The Prime Minister himself has mapped out his future, leading to a post as Minister of External Affairs. It's the chance fo a lifetime, an opportunity to shape the foreign policy he has so long followed as a diplomat. But Lyon's new life may crumble before it even begins.
A yacht has been found adrift off the coast of Finland, the woman who chartered it missing and presumed dead. Francesca D'Anielli, the former model who has disappeared, was at the heart of the double life Lyon lived during the early years of his diplomatic career. Once her personal effects are discovered, Lyon knows, their affair will be exposed and he will face scandal, humiliation, personal and professional disaster.
The Voyage is a brilliant and beautifully told story of love and its unforeseen consequences, by an award-winning journalist whose fiction is as penetrating as his reporting.
A yacht has been found adrift off the coast of Finland, the woman who chartered it missing and presumed dead. Francesca D'Anielli, the former model who has disappeared, was at the heart of the double life Lyon lived during the early years of his diplomatic career. Once her personal effects are discovered, Lyon knows, their affair will be exposed and he will face scandal, humiliation, personal and professional disaster.
The Voyage is a brilliant and beautifully told story of love and its unforeseen consequences, by an award-winning journalist whose fiction is as penetrating as his reporting.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 1995
26 people want to read
About the author
Robert MacNeil
37 books12 followersRobert Breckenridge Ware MacNeil, OC, was a novelist and former television news anchor and journalist who paired with Jim Lehrer to create The MacNeil/Lehrer Report in 1975. MacNeil wrote several books, many about his career as a journalist, but, since his retirement from NewsHour, MacNeil dabbled in writing novels.
He attended Dalhousie University and later graduated from Carleton University in Ottawa in 1955. He began working in the news field at ITV in London, then for Reuters and then for NBC News as a correspondent in Washington, D.C. and New York City.
On November 22, 1963, MacNeil was covering President Kennedy's visit to Dallas for NBC News. After shots rang out in Dealey Plaza MacNeil, who was with the presidential motorcade, followed crowds running onto the Grassy Knoll (he appears in a photo taken just moments after the assassination). He then headed towards the nearest building and encountered a man leaving the Texas School Book Depository. He asked the man where the nearest telephone was and the man pointed and went on his way. MacNeil later learned the man he encountered at about 12:33 p.m. CST may have been Lee Harvey Oswald. This conclusion was made by historian William Manchester in his book The Death of a President (1967), who believed that Oswald, recounting the day's events to the Dallas police, mistook MacNeil as a Secret Service agent because of his suit, blond crew cut, and press badge (which Oswald apparently mistook for government identification). For his part, MacNeil says "it was possible, but I had no way of confirming that either of the young men I had spoken to was Oswald."
Beginning in 1967, MacNeil covered American and European politics for the BBC and has served as the host for the news discussion show Washington Week in Review. MacNeil rose to fame during his coverage of the Senate Watergate hearings for PBS, which led to an Emmy Award. This helped lead to his most famous news role, where he worked with Jim Lehrer to create The Robert MacNeil Report in 1975. This was later renamed The MacNeil/Lehrer Report and then The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour. MacNeil retired on October 20, 1995.
On September 11, 2001, after the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, he called PBS, asking if he could help them with their coverage of the attacks, as he recalled in his autobiography, Looking for My Country: Finding Myself in America. He helped PBS in its coverage of the attacks and the aftermath, interviewing reporters, and giving his thoughts on the attacks. He hosted the PBS television show America at a Crossroads, which ran from April 15-20, 2007.
In the late 1990s, he discussed openly his son's homosexuality, saying it could help other fathers to know how he dealt with the fact in a positive way.
He attended Dalhousie University and later graduated from Carleton University in Ottawa in 1955. He began working in the news field at ITV in London, then for Reuters and then for NBC News as a correspondent in Washington, D.C. and New York City.
On November 22, 1963, MacNeil was covering President Kennedy's visit to Dallas for NBC News. After shots rang out in Dealey Plaza MacNeil, who was with the presidential motorcade, followed crowds running onto the Grassy Knoll (he appears in a photo taken just moments after the assassination). He then headed towards the nearest building and encountered a man leaving the Texas School Book Depository. He asked the man where the nearest telephone was and the man pointed and went on his way. MacNeil later learned the man he encountered at about 12:33 p.m. CST may have been Lee Harvey Oswald. This conclusion was made by historian William Manchester in his book The Death of a President (1967), who believed that Oswald, recounting the day's events to the Dallas police, mistook MacNeil as a Secret Service agent because of his suit, blond crew cut, and press badge (which Oswald apparently mistook for government identification). For his part, MacNeil says "it was possible, but I had no way of confirming that either of the young men I had spoken to was Oswald."
Beginning in 1967, MacNeil covered American and European politics for the BBC and has served as the host for the news discussion show Washington Week in Review. MacNeil rose to fame during his coverage of the Senate Watergate hearings for PBS, which led to an Emmy Award. This helped lead to his most famous news role, where he worked with Jim Lehrer to create The Robert MacNeil Report in 1975. This was later renamed The MacNeil/Lehrer Report and then The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour. MacNeil retired on October 20, 1995.
On September 11, 2001, after the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, he called PBS, asking if he could help them with their coverage of the attacks, as he recalled in his autobiography, Looking for My Country: Finding Myself in America. He helped PBS in its coverage of the attacks and the aftermath, interviewing reporters, and giving his thoughts on the attacks. He hosted the PBS television show America at a Crossroads, which ran from April 15-20, 2007.
In the late 1990s, he discussed openly his son's homosexuality, saying it could help other fathers to know how he dealt with the fact in a positive way.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 5, 2024
This novel by Robert MacNeil was disappointing...if one was into sailboats, the reader would probably very pleased.
David Lyon is a career diplomat for the Canadian Foreign Affairs so is sent all over the world when needed. He is married to Marilyn and has two girls. But as a diplomat, he meets up with Francesca who carries on a long-time years affair with David.
In his position as a diplomat, he is able to carry on a weird affair which David seems to be so in love with her, that his family comes second in his mind. He loves his wife but can't resist Francesca and her beautiful body, her charming ways and her risk-taking way of life.
When Francesca is missing, and her sailboat adrift, David feels the news will get to the prime minister and his career will be over....but the annoying part of the story is that he is not caught out, his wife forgives him, the government isn't aware of David's romantic double life and he doesn't have to retire but can carry on his business in the Canadian government.
David Lyon is a career diplomat for the Canadian Foreign Affairs so is sent all over the world when needed. He is married to Marilyn and has two girls. But as a diplomat, he meets up with Francesca who carries on a long-time years affair with David.
In his position as a diplomat, he is able to carry on a weird affair which David seems to be so in love with her, that his family comes second in his mind. He loves his wife but can't resist Francesca and her beautiful body, her charming ways and her risk-taking way of life.
When Francesca is missing, and her sailboat adrift, David feels the news will get to the prime minister and his career will be over....but the annoying part of the story is that he is not caught out, his wife forgives him, the government isn't aware of David's romantic double life and he doesn't have to retire but can carry on his business in the Canadian government.
March 29, 2011
The author retired from "MacNeil Lehrer Report" in the fall of 1995 with plans to devote himself full time to writing, espe¬cially fiction. I'd say he's off to a good start. David Lyon, a Canadian diplomat, has been hinted at as the next foreign minis¬ter when word comes that Francesca D'Anielli is missing and presumed dead after her yacht is found floating in waters around Finland. A package of love letters from David is found on the boat, thereby compromising any chance for him to be useful in a diplomatic capacity anymore. The story of his affair with Fran¬cesca, and of his diplomatic career and his home life, is told in flashbacks. I was particularly interested in the sense of place that the Finnish scenes gave.
December 13, 2016
"The Voyage" - written by Robert MacNeil and published in 1995 by Nan A Talese. A depressing lost love story heavy on Canadian politics.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews