Review: A captivating voyage
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 21, 2013
The year is 1919.  The place, Salem, Massachusetts.  Kate Hinshaw is entering her senior year at Wellesley, College and was invited to do research in Scotland following her graduation.  Her older sister, Rosalie, is engaged to a Harvard Divinity School senior.  Her younger sister, Aggie, is a partying flapper who resents Kate because she felt Kate was  better than she was.  And her youngest brother, Woody, confined to a wheelchair spends all his time at home, overprotected by their mother, Genevieve.  Oliver, her father, a lawyer, is a socialist, defending the underprivileged and union members.  “Justice shouldn’t depend on your pocketbook” was his motto.  While the family had been financially secure, Woody’s medical bills and a $15,000 loan to her mother’s brother, Phinneas, still unpaid, had put them into a precarious situation.Joe Santayna’s family had been fishermen for several generations and he was a fisherman as well, even though he had attended Boston College for one year.  He lived with his extended family (grandmother, father, aunts, uncles cousins – 7 children, five adults) in the same five-room home his paternal grandparents had when he first came there at age 7.  He was also close to his mother’s two aunts.Joe was on his way to hire Oliver to represent his brother Michael when he saw Oliver shot to death.  And everything changed.The bank was threatening to foreclose on their house because there was a $15,000 loan on it and they lacked to resources to repay it.  Genevieve relied on Uncle Finny for financial advice.  He refused to admit he had borrowed any money and urged her to sell the house.Kate is determined to save their home but needs a lot of money on a regular basis starting immediately.  Prohibition has been the law of the land for two years, but drinking continues through illegal speakeasies and smuggling is a major source of income for those willing and able to bring in alcohol from Canada.  Oliver’s favorite item was a boat, Pa’s Folly, so Kate hires Joe and a small crew begins a new career.A lot of the plot describes the problems they encounter on their trips to and from Canada, particularly those that are weather related.  Another part is figuring out why Uncle Finny is so anxious for Genevieve to sell their house and boat.  Next is the developing relationship between Kate and Oliver.There are some important and some amusing subplots, as well.  Aggie is a victim of domestic violence.  An elderly, secluded neighbor provides important information as well as some interesting encounters.Myers’ words are sometimes extra clever.  M. Ruth Myers describes the beginning of a trip to Salem Willow, an amusement park, to see the Flying Horses Carousel: “The nervousness that had filled her as they came through the gates dropped behind her with each step like peanut shells discarded by her fellow revelers.”  She describes Joe’s perspective of  being drunk by saying (in more words than this synopsis), he had no idea how much he had drunk but everything and everybody seemed to look better.  In response to the way people treat her family after their income drops and one of them is arrested after being set up with illicit merchandise, she offers some outlandish comments and observes, “Fibbing ends silly chatter much faster than telling the truth.”Kate experiences sexism, beginning with some people’s reaction to wearing trousers and to their thoughts on her working on the boat.  As her character develops as a result of her observations of other people, she raises concern about issues that are still with us.  Speaking of injustice, she says “People willing to work who can’t find jobs.  Working people who can scarcely afford to feed their families.  Unsafe working conditions.  People with everything taking advantage of those who have nothing and doing favors for their own kind rather than what is right.”I figured out early in the book what the end would be: Uncle Finny, Kate and Joe.  But the story kept me interested (there could have been a little bit less about the sea voyages), the characters had variety and were true to themselves, I enjoyed the humor and adventure, and was satisfied with the ending.