The High Seas

The Onedin Line #3

by Cyril Abraham

The Onedin Line The High Seas

Genres: Fiction

254 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 1975

About the author

Born in Liverpool in England, the son of John Abrahams, an oil mill labourer, and Agnes (née Davies), a widow, who married in 1918, as a boy Abraham attended the Liverpool Collegiate School and as a youth on the training ship HMS Conway before going to sea as an apprentice with the Liverpool shipping line Lambert and Holt. He had a period as a Bevin Boy down Bold Colliery before serving as a Marconi wireless operator in the Merchant Navy during World War II. After the war, having literary aspirations but not knowing how to pursue them, he became a bus driver with Liverpool City Transport; here he worked with Harold Hargreaves Harrison, the father of George Harrison.

His first marriage in 1945 to Evelyn M Howarth was later dissolved. While still driving buses in Liverpool he met local school teacher Joan Thomas; she encouraged him to start writing by renting a typewriter for him when he could not afford to do so for himself. She hired him the cheapest available, a pink model as these were not suitable for offices because of their bright colour. The couple married in Liverpool in 1964. Initially his short stories and articles were published in Australian magazines before he made the break into writing for television.

Reviews

[Redfox5 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great addition to The Onedin series.

This one started off focusing more on family drama than a sea voyage, which I really liked. Heartbreaking ending though.

Annoyingly I had picked up book 4 first by mistake and read the spoiler for this one on the back, so I knew it was coming.

Would really recommend this series!

[Hannah Polley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would say that I have enjoyed this book the most in the Onedin series.

James is still trying to make his fortune. Elizabeth thinks her marriage is back on track but little does she guess that Albert is now cheating on her. Robert is making the same old bad decisions.

However, the biggest storyline is Anne trying to have a son for James and miscarrying. The doctor tells her not to try again but she does and gets pregnant on the ship. At the end of the book, Anne has a baby girl but dies in the process. It is a really sad ending.

I feel like the next book will have a different tone to it.

[Woodbine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like the other ONEDIN LINE books by Cyril Abraham,I found it hard to put the book down once I started to read it,great read.

[Cleopatra Hensby · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is a great saga and I enjoy reading it, even after seeing the series a few times. All the characters are full of life, of personality.