Bibliography
Sperry, Armstrong. 1947. Danger to Windward. New York, Chicago, San Francisco: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Reviewed by Michael Beach
This was a fun tale of intrigue and seafaring adventure. A girl from Nantucket married someone who was not from there. This resulted in estrangement from her family, in particular her father who was a whaling captain. Years pass. The couple have a son, but never return to Nantucket. Toward the end of his life, her father has a change of heart and leaves all he has to his daughter, but a corrupt half brother has a lawyer draw up a fake years earlier leaving all to him. Before finding any of this out, the father, daughter, and son in law all pass away under differing circumstances, leaving their son as sole. The son is our protagonist, Hugh Dewar. There are two antagonists, his uncle Samwel Macy assisted by a crooked lawyer, and Hugh's cousin Davy Macy who took over as captain of the ship once owned by Hugh’s grandfather.
On Hugh’s side was a good lawyer who helped him learn all the circumstances, and owners of the local Nantucket pub and inn. Hugh approaches his uncle to come to terms. He is beaten and taken aboard the whaler by his cousin, there to serve under him. He was kept alive because the ship was shorthanded, but understood that once the holds were full, his life would be under threat. Much of the book is of the sailing adventures that happen after his kidnapping. He is befriended by the ship’s ‘doctor’. The two of them at some point even wreck one of the harpooning boats and a few chapters are dedicated to their experiences among islanders, some friendly and some dangerous. They are eventually ‘rescued’ by their own ship and return to work on the ship while they search for the final will written by Hugh’s grandfather.
In the end, they find the will, Davy loses his life, Hugh wins the court battles and takes ownership of the lands and ship which are now completely his. The uncle and his lawyer flee in disgrace. The story line is similar to Robert Louis Stevenson's book Kidnapped with some variations. Wherever I look online, this book is described as a young person’s novel. I enjoyed it. I guess that goes to show where my mentality lays.
Sperry, Armstrong. 1947. Danger to Windward. New York, Chicago, San Francisco: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Reviewed by Michael Beach
This was a fun tale of intrigue and seafaring adventure. A girl from Nantucket married someone who was not from there. This resulted in estrangement from her family, in particular her father who was a whaling captain. Years pass. The couple have a son, but never return to Nantucket. Toward the end of his life, her father has a change of heart and leaves all he has to his daughter, but a corrupt half brother has a lawyer draw up a fake years earlier leaving all to him. Before finding any of this out, the father, daughter, and son in law all pass away under differing circumstances, leaving their son as sole. The son is our protagonist, Hugh Dewar. There are two antagonists, his uncle Samwel Macy assisted by a crooked lawyer, and Hugh's cousin Davy Macy who took over as captain of the ship once owned by Hugh’s grandfather.
On Hugh’s side was a good lawyer who helped him learn all the circumstances, and owners of the local Nantucket pub and inn. Hugh approaches his uncle to come to terms. He is beaten and taken aboard the whaler by his cousin, there to serve under him. He was kept alive because the ship was shorthanded, but understood that once the holds were full, his life would be under threat. Much of the book is of the sailing adventures that happen after his kidnapping. He is befriended by the ship’s ‘doctor’. The two of them at some point even wreck one of the harpooning boats and a few chapters are dedicated to their experiences among islanders, some friendly and some dangerous. They are eventually ‘rescued’ by their own ship and return to work on the ship while they search for the final will written by Hugh’s grandfather.
In the end, they find the will, Davy loses his life, Hugh wins the court battles and takes ownership of the lands and ship which are now completely his. The uncle and his lawyer flee in disgrace. The story line is similar to Robert Louis Stevenson's book Kidnapped with some variations. Wherever I look online, this book is described as a young person’s novel. I enjoyed it. I guess that goes to show where my mentality lays.
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