Alone on a Wide, Wide Sea

"Alone on a Wide, Wide Sea" is a book by Michael Morpurgo, first published in 2006 by HarperCollins. It was inspired by the history of English orphans transported to Australia after World War II. [ [http://www.michaelmorpurgo.org/books_alone_wide_sea.html Alone on a Wide Wide Sea ] ] The book's title is taken from a line in "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner".

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The novel has two parts. The first follows Arthur Hobhouse's story, and the second follows the story of his daughter Allie.

Part One

Arthur Hobhouse tells the story of his life. His earliest memory was that he was an orphan from Bermondsey, in London, and that, at the age of six, in 1947, he was transported to Australia to find a new home. He is parted from his sister, Kitty Hobhouse, who he is not sure exists or not. He remembers distinctly the time of their parting, at the docks in Liverpool, when she gave him a key, which he calls his lucky key and wears from that day on. He boards the ship and leaves for the country that is to be his home for the rest of his life.

The boat trip is terrible. In his bunk there are some other boys, who are older than him, all about eight years old, and from the north. They bully him because he is younger than them, he's a Cockney, he sings "London Bridge is Falling Down" to get himself to sleep, and he's often violently sea sick. But one day, whilst being sea sick over the boat's edge, he meets fellow London orphan Marty. They become friends. Then along come some of the bullies, and their leader, Wes Snarkey, starts calling Arthur a "poxy Cockney". Marty, who is a tall boy of ten years old, beats Wes to the ground. The bullies leave Arthur alone after that.

Upon arrival in Sydney,someone tries to separate Arthur and Marty, but Marty makes sure that doesn't happen, and the two, along with some of the other boys, are taken on a bus ride through the outback. Arthur notices that only one of the boys is one of the bullies from the ship, and that's Wes Snarkey, who leaves him alone because of Marty. Arthur reckons his lucky key is working well, but, little does he know, a dark turn is coming.

The bus draws to a halt at a place called Cooper's Station, which is clearly a farm. The gramophone is playing "What a Friend We Have In Jesus". The farm is run by Mr. Bacon (a.k.a. Piggy Bacon). His wife is Mrs. Bacon (a.k.a. Mrs. Piggy). The couple are very unalike. Piggy Bacon is cruel, loud, and claims to be a good Christian but is not; Mrs. Piggy is kind, caring, quiet, a good Christian, and is completely under her husband's power.

Soon, Mrs. Piggy's kindness is revealed, and the boys start calling her Ida. Ida soon tries to start a fire to free the kids from the working camp, but fails. Wes Snarkey, now the boys' heroes because of his blatant defiance, attempts to escape, but is brought back dead by the bushmen. Arthur and Marty escape on a horse into the bush, where the bushmen look after them. One day the bushmen leave them for no apparent reason. Then they are started to be looked after by Aunty Megs, a woman who looks after all the orphaned animals of the bush, and sets them free. One day, she gets badly injured after falling off her horse. Soon after nursing her back to health Arthur and Marty are sent to a boat maker, where a fire starts and Marty drowns after getting drunk. Aunty Megs dies, and Arthur joins the war. He later quits and getting an illness, he has to go to hospital. He falls in love with the nurse Zita there, and they marry and have a daughter called Allie (Alexis). Arthur tells Allie about Kitty and the Key, and Allie is persistent to find out the meaning of it. Arthur makes a boat called Kitty IV (Kitty Four) after the Kitty 1 in the bath, Kitty 2 in the pond and Kitty 3 for a river to sail to England to find Kitty and find out the meaning of the key. The boat is named after Kitty. Unfortunately, before the launching of the ship, Arthur is diagnosed with a brain tumor. His death ends the first part.

Part Two

Allie goes on the search for Kitty, setting up the Kitty 4 website. The Kitty 4 boat is made so that when it is knocked over, it flips back up. It does exactly that. During the search an Albatross befriends Ali, who believes it to be Arthur's spirit, because he loved Albatrosses. Allie sends emails to her family and during the quest, she finds that her grandpa and a scientist are above her in the sky, she finds out where Kitty is, she accidentally kills the Albatross but Arthur's spirit marges into a turtle, and Kitty 4 is badly damaged. Soon she arrives at England meeting an old woman. She takes the key, puts it into a music box, and it opens, singing London Bridge is falling down, one of Arthur's favorite songs.

References

External links

* [http://www.michaelmorpurgo.com HarperCollins website on Michael Morpurgo]
* [http://www.michaelmorpurgo.org Michael Morpurgo website]