A Sea Change - Softcover

Arditti, Michael

4.1

52 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1904559212 ISBN 13: 9781904559214

Publisher: Arcadia Books, 2006

View all copies of this ISBN edition:

In May 1939, the SS St Louis left Hamburg for Havana carrying almost a thousand refugees from Hitler's Germany. On arrival in Cuba, they were forbidden entry and the captain was forced to turn back. Over the following weeks, the ship crisscrossed the ocean, buffeted alternately by hope and disappointment, as it vainly sought asylum in a friendly port and war drew inexorably closer. Based on actual events, Michael Arditti's enthralling novel is the memoir of one of the passengers, fifteen year- old Karl, heir to a department store fortune. He recounts both the horror and excitement of the trip, along with his personal voyage of discovery, as he learns the truth about his family, battles Nazi crew members and plans mutiny. Most momentously, he describes his first, passionate love affair with the beautiful Johanna. `A Sea Change' is a mesmerizing journey through history. A tale of dreams and betrayal, of courage and resilience, of romance and reconciliation, it unforgettably evokes an extraordinary summer in which a boy crosses the threshold from youth to maturity.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

About the Author:

Michael Arditti is a novelist, short story writer and critic. His novels are The Celibate (1993), Pagan and her Parents - Pagan’s Father in the USA (1996), Easter (2000), Unity (2005), A Sea Change (2006), The Enemy of the Good (2009), Jubilate (2011) and The Breath of Night (2013). His short story collection, Good Clean Fun was published in 2004. He was awarded a Harold Hyam Wingate scholarship in 2000, a Royal Literary Fund fellowship in 2001, an Oppenheim-John Downes memorial award in 2003, and Arts Council awards in 2004 and 2007. He was the Leverhulme artist in residence at the Freud museum in 2008. His novels have been short- and long-listed for several literary awards and Easter won the inaugural Waterstone’s Mardi Gras award. In 2012 he was awarded an Honorary DLitt by the University of Chester.

Review:

'Brilliant use of a momentous journey to tell the story of a Jewish boy's rite of passage into adulthood. A gripping and adroit fusion of history with personal drama' Rose Tremain 'A moving and heartening story in which spirit triumphs over political barbarity' Edna O'Brien

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.