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Passage Home
Like the sea she loved, Adam Gaunt was a compelling force, sweeping Rachel Dean far from her proper home in Victorian England to the wild American frontier on an adventure beyond compare.
Hers is a journey of daring dreams and driving passions; a breathtaking passage across oceans and a vast continent. Touched by tragedy, tested by scandal, she meets the challenge to survive with a will that carries her beyond her dreams, to claim the magnificent promise that is a woman's greatest triumph.
Hers is a journey of daring dreams and driving passions; a breathtaking passage across oceans and a vast continent. Touched by tragedy, tested by scandal, she meets the challenge to survive with a will that carries her beyond her dreams, to claim the magnificent promise that is a woman's greatest triumph.
651 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1990
About the author
Alison McLeay
16 books5 followers ALISON McLeay was an author with a special flair for historical and romantic fiction. Formerly a distinguished freelance radio presenter and producer with the BBC, she began writing in the mid-Seventies and went on to achieve a remarkable international readership throughout Europe and the United States, where she entered the bestseller lists.
After Dundee High School, where she was English dux, McLeay studied English and medieval history at St Andrews University.
While a student at Scotland's oldest university, she was a founder member of the biennial St Andrews Festival of Arts -organised and administered solely by students and, as such, unique in Europe - which became recognised as one of the principal international winter festivals in the country, although eventually folding during the Nineties.
After graduating from St Andrews, she went on to Glasgow University to complete a postgraduate course in radio drama, before joining the staff of the BBC.
She later became a freelance with BBC Radio in a wide variety of live morning programmes on Radio Scotland, on occasion presenting and producing Woman's Hour and Kaleidoscope, and also writing drama productions.
On her marriage to Simon Martin, a former journalist and salvage diver, in 1980, she returned to St Andrews where she was to live for the rest of her life. The couple set up and operated the town's first wine bar, and later a cookshop.
Her first book, The World of The Onedin Line, about the real-life seamen's world behind the popular television series, was published in 1977. "I kept trying to reassure myself that I had a book in me, until one day I bunged the manuscript down to a publisher and within a week I had an acceptance."
Her second book, Tobermory Treasure, which appeared in 1986, told the story of the Spanish Armada ship wrecked off Mull with its fabulous cargo worth $30 million. Such was her meticulous attention to detail in the research for her books that she learned to dive to join the salvage team involved with the Spanish galleon. She also scripted and produced a Radio 4 feature on the 400-year search for the vessel.
But it was not until the publication of her first novel, The Wayward Tide, in 1990, that McLeay became a formidable player in the literary market for historical romance. The book became an instant best-seller, and was labelled "the most stunning fiction debut in years" by Publishers' Weekly in America, where the first print run reached an astonishing 100,000 copies. The Wayward Tide was published in ten different languages.
The sea, travel and the lure of distant lands, played a central role in her tales of love and life. Her second novel, Sweet Exile, set in New Orleans and the Fens in England, followed soon afterwards. Her next, The Dream Maker, was set in Hudson's Bay. This was followed by After Shanghai and The Summer House, the paperback of which is due to be published later this month. Her recent works have proved to be particularly popular in France and Germany.
McLeay travelled to many parts of the world to carry out research for her books. "If you are going to have the feel of the place, you have to go there," she once said. Her other interests included cooking, gardening, painting, collages and reading.
Alison McLeay is survived by her husband and their 12-year-old son, Richard.
- Source: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi...
After Dundee High School, where she was English dux, McLeay studied English and medieval history at St Andrews University.
While a student at Scotland's oldest university, she was a founder member of the biennial St Andrews Festival of Arts -organised and administered solely by students and, as such, unique in Europe - which became recognised as one of the principal international winter festivals in the country, although eventually folding during the Nineties.
After graduating from St Andrews, she went on to Glasgow University to complete a postgraduate course in radio drama, before joining the staff of the BBC.
She later became a freelance with BBC Radio in a wide variety of live morning programmes on Radio Scotland, on occasion presenting and producing Woman's Hour and Kaleidoscope, and also writing drama productions.
On her marriage to Simon Martin, a former journalist and salvage diver, in 1980, she returned to St Andrews where she was to live for the rest of her life. The couple set up and operated the town's first wine bar, and later a cookshop.
Her first book, The World of The Onedin Line, about the real-life seamen's world behind the popular television series, was published in 1977. "I kept trying to reassure myself that I had a book in me, until one day I bunged the manuscript down to a publisher and within a week I had an acceptance."
Her second book, Tobermory Treasure, which appeared in 1986, told the story of the Spanish Armada ship wrecked off Mull with its fabulous cargo worth $30 million. Such was her meticulous attention to detail in the research for her books that she learned to dive to join the salvage team involved with the Spanish galleon. She also scripted and produced a Radio 4 feature on the 400-year search for the vessel.
But it was not until the publication of her first novel, The Wayward Tide, in 1990, that McLeay became a formidable player in the literary market for historical romance. The book became an instant best-seller, and was labelled "the most stunning fiction debut in years" by Publishers' Weekly in America, where the first print run reached an astonishing 100,000 copies. The Wayward Tide was published in ten different languages.
The sea, travel and the lure of distant lands, played a central role in her tales of love and life. Her second novel, Sweet Exile, set in New Orleans and the Fens in England, followed soon afterwards. Her next, The Dream Maker, was set in Hudson's Bay. This was followed by After Shanghai and The Summer House, the paperback of which is due to be published later this month. Her recent works have proved to be particularly popular in France and Germany.
McLeay travelled to many parts of the world to carry out research for her books. "If you are going to have the feel of the place, you have to go there," she once said. Her other interests included cooking, gardening, painting, collages and reading.
Alison McLeay is survived by her husband and their 12-year-old son, Richard.
- Source: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi...
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
December 8, 2011
So no one so far has reviewed this book yet, so I thought I would take a quick shot.
I love this book beyond reason. I read it as a young kid and I have loved it ever since. It is one of my all time favorite books.
The characters are written with such depth and go through some skillfully written, realistic, and well thought out changes. They have their faults and flaws, they have their dreams and hopes, but ultimately they are subject to the rules of the society they are living with.
Characters are not broken in this novel, they don't need to learn a lesson in order to be fixed. They are who they are, take them or leave them.
The complexity of the plot, how everything ties so neatly together is what takes this story to the next level. So much happens, so many problems get in the way, and yet everything is consistent, everything is left up to chance.
It may be hard to get your hands on but its a book that needs to be read, its worth the effort.
I love this book beyond reason. I read it as a young kid and I have loved it ever since. It is one of my all time favorite books.
The characters are written with such depth and go through some skillfully written, realistic, and well thought out changes. They have their faults and flaws, they have their dreams and hopes, but ultimately they are subject to the rules of the society they are living with.
Characters are not broken in this novel, they don't need to learn a lesson in order to be fixed. They are who they are, take them or leave them.
The complexity of the plot, how everything ties so neatly together is what takes this story to the next level. So much happens, so many problems get in the way, and yet everything is consistent, everything is left up to chance.
It may be hard to get your hands on but its a book that needs to be read, its worth the effort.
September 29, 2016
Passage Home by Alison McLeay is a good, interesting portrayal of one woman's experiences in the 19th century world she inhabited. Themes center around the inhibited and limited lifestyle of a woman born into the upper class. She is not equipped or expected to do anything and yet circumstances demand that she learn or starve. The novel ends in a satisfying manner which shows that true love is often born of learning to overcome and forget hard things in order to experience a worthwhile life. I enjoyed this book very much, especially once I was "in" to it.
May 18, 2024
Really great writing and a complex, interesting story with characters that feel real throughout. I’ve had this book on my shelf for years and finally cracked it open. So glad I did! It’s a 4.7 star book for me.
September 18, 2021
606 pages wow! So worth it. Read it in 2 days. Couldn't out it down. Made me cry a few times. Great book
November 2, 2018
A novel that takes place during the nineteenth century. A coming of age for the main character Rachael. A dose of adventure and romance, love and hate, poverty and riches, travel.
#Historicalfiction #Romance #adventure #Newfoundland #AmericanWest #Liverpool #1800,s
#Historicalfiction #Romance #adventure #Newfoundland #AmericanWest #Liverpool #1800,s
February 11, 2026
This book took me a bit to get into it but the author does such a beautiful job writing that it kept me reading. The story is crazy, definitely felt like I was watching a movie in my head.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews