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Cruise
The publicity brochure had promised them lazy days of sunshine, extravagant surroundings, convivial company. “All these, plus the inimitable thrill of a sea voyage, are part of your cruise through the sundrenched Mediterranean, cradle of legends and history, in the magnificent, stabilized and air-conditioned Queen Dee.”
None of the 730 passengers knew why David Welch, the ship’s new Chief Officer, should never have been given his commission.
But they were soon to find out…the hard way. Just as the women in his life found out the truth about David…when it was too late. Before the cruise is over, passengers and crew alike have good reason to remember David Welch. As the brochure predicted, “nothing quite equals the atmosphere of a Queen Dee cruise.”
Seven hundred and thirty people, so different in background, behavior and in the dreams they hoped the cruise would realize, are thrown together, first socially, then in common peril. Theirs is a world that becomes ever more tense, one from which—at least for the time being—they cannot escape. As the situation grows stormy, the peculiarities of the passengers—barely noticeable on the first evening of the cruise—escalate.
Against a highly detailed background of the routine working of a cruise ship, Peter Baker has painted a penetrating portrait of the morals, thoughts, deeds and fears of those who flee routine to seek excitement in distant climes.
None of the 730 passengers knew why David Welch, the ship’s new Chief Officer, should never have been given his commission.
But they were soon to find out…the hard way. Just as the women in his life found out the truth about David…when it was too late. Before the cruise is over, passengers and crew alike have good reason to remember David Welch. As the brochure predicted, “nothing quite equals the atmosphere of a Queen Dee cruise.”
Seven hundred and thirty people, so different in background, behavior and in the dreams they hoped the cruise would realize, are thrown together, first socially, then in common peril. Theirs is a world that becomes ever more tense, one from which—at least for the time being—they cannot escape. As the situation grows stormy, the peculiarities of the passengers—barely noticeable on the first evening of the cruise—escalate.
Against a highly detailed background of the routine working of a cruise ship, Peter Baker has painted a penetrating portrait of the morals, thoughts, deeds and fears of those who flee routine to seek excitement in distant climes.
314 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1967
6 people want to read
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April 15, 2022
Richard Westcott is seventeen and unsure about everything. (I'm still there, brother!) He's a good boy who loves his mother. His cabin-mate is John Brewer, twenty, American, and gay. Their conversations and push-and-pull friendship are the most interesting part of this book. Lady Fiona Pratley was an interesting character: totally hurtful and rude to everyone, especially her older husband, but she's actually warm-hearted and her husband is very necessary to her. Richard's mother, Pamela, isn't a bad character either. She's thoughtful and loving. The rest? Eh. The other main male characters, Captain Corley and Chief Officer David Welch, weren't very interesting. The writing didn't thrill me.
Displaying 1 of 1 review