In the Wake of the Mary Celeste

Gary Crewe (author)

Robert Ingpen (illus)

Lothian Books, Australia: 2004

ISBN: 0734407289

Genres: historical fiction, picture book, sea stories

Issues: perspectives

In December, 1872, the Mary Celeste was found adrift in the Atlantic Ocean. She was in full sail and seaworthy - but there was no crew. The abandonment of the vessel became a famous sea mystery.

Many theories - from embezzlement to sea monsters - were put forward. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (creator of Sherlock Holmes) wrote a short story of mutiny and assassination that captured the imagination of the scandal-mongering public. In this picture book the text is in the form of a formal letter of complaint and repudiation of that fiction by Arthur Briggs, son of the captain of the Mary Celeste. He presents the conclusion of the Maritime Inquiry held at the time and debunks the more outrageous accusations.

Cleverly constructed to give real faces and stories to the people involved, Crewe's writing is both indignant and logical. In an argument that has very modern parallels, he examines the power of writers - journalists and novelists - to influence the opinions and reactions of the majority of the population. He raises the issues of writer's ethics - their responsibility to those at the centre of the scandals and rumours they create.

Ingpen's watercolour illustrations are equally powerful, interspersing sea pictures in the style of the period with intimate sketches of those involved, breathing life and personality into historical figures. Very interesting, thought-provoking and well-crafted, this book would integrate well with a unit on media studies and bias in writing.

Those interested in this explanation of mystery should look for Charles Edey Fay's book The Story of the Mary Celeste. (ISBN 0486257304)