Blog Archives

From Great Snoring to Peaches and Pork

8/2/2024

In 2011 Jenny Robin Jones wrote No Simple Passage, which told the true story of how the London sailed to New Zealand in 1842 and what happened to its passengers on the way, who flourished, who foundered and who didn’t even make it to their new homeland. Now here is the story from the point of view of young Joe Willis and his friend Bertie Bacon from Great Snoring. Joe’s excitement about his new life keeps his curiosity at a fever pitch throughout the whole four-month adventure at sea. As he marks the days by notches on his stick, the boys learn to read and write, make friends with a cabin passenger and watch their first Māori haka. When will they all get to Wellington Town? Why isn’t the ship moving anymore? Will Jasper, the dog on the poop deck, recover from the heat? Will the sailors find William Whale who has fallen into the ocean? Will Joe’s mother have enough raisins in her rations to make Spotted Dick for tea? Will Joe get scurvy if he doesn’t eat his pickled cabbage? Will Midnight, the ship’s cat, save him from the rats? Factual historical detail is embedded in the human story of Joe and Bertie, Joe’s poor but hopeful parents and Bertie’s sister Eliza, whose sickness is so much worse than Joe’s.