Posted by Andy on December 16, 2014 at 04:10:22 user AndyG.
In Reply to: Ransome takes and ignores advice posted by Roger Wardale on December 14, 2014 at 07:59:48:
a seasick book with a huge coincidence
I like the first element - it's not just seasick, after all. For Susan it's the sickening fear of a promise broken. A major jolt from a few days' pleasant cruise on the rivers, to a real fear for their lives in a small boat at sea. Playing at "house" while camping in the Lakes is one thing. WD is a bildungsroman particularly for Susan...it works, for me.
As to the huge coincidence: we know, throughout the opening parts of the book, that Daddy is coming to Harwich, must be catching a steamer from a port on the European mainland, and the date it's likely to happen. I've witnessed bigger coincidences in life - I don't find the end totally unbelievable in terms of the geography, though perhaps it's a little more unbelievable in terms of the timing. But then a pierhead jump makes for a better novel's ending than "passing Daddy one hour out of Flushing" or "he was hanging around waiting for his steamer". ;o)
Andy