THE BIRD ESCAPED
By
A first novel by the sister of Rumer Godden, this combines a superb, imagist style with a story of intense interrelationship among the crew of a ship which set sail out of Liverpool in 1941. There was Jackman, the chief cook, and Prince, the steward, both former employees of the Hotel Metropole. And there was also young Sebastian Craik. Craik carries such an intense hatred of Jackman that it influences all his actions, makes him determined to solve a murder in which Jackman and Price had been connected. The ship strikes a mine, Craik finds himself alone on a deserted island, where, severed from civilization, he obsessively, imaginatively, reconstructs the murder. Finding Jackman further up the beach alive, Craik's outlook now changes, his intense hatred turns to love as he labors to save his life... Intense, and with a certain fascination.