A High Wind in Jamaica

Richard Hughes

When I was in the Girls' Brigade I did a comprehension passage from this book, I would have been about 10. So when I saw it I thought I would read it. It's not a book for children - it's about them, through a child's eyes. It's set at the end of the last century, starting off in Jamaica. There's a hurricane, the English family's house is destroyed and the children (5 of them) are sent home to England. Their ship is boarded off Cuba by a bunch of inept pirates. The children (7 of them by this time ) end up on the pirate's boat and the pirates don't know how to cope with them. The story, told from a 10 year old girl's point of view, rings so true. It paved the way for Lord of the Flies and is every bit as good. It's not at all sentimental. There are horrific bits but the children don't grasp the significance of them.

Seán: "the cover makes me think it's a woman's book."
Gill 17/5/98

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