Book Review: In Search of the Castaways

The frontispiece from the original edition

I am dating myself here, but I loved the old Hayley Mills-Disney version of this book when I was a child. I still do. In fact, we own it. 


Having read and enjoyed many of Jules Verne's books, how could I resist another free download of an old classic on my Kindle? 


Just in case you aren't already familiar with it, the book was first printed in 1867. It tells the tale of the search for Captain Grant of the Britannia who had been missing for two years when the book began.


Lord and Lady Glenarvan took the children of Captain Grant aboard their yacht to try and locate their father by following clues from a note that had been found in a bottle. They knew the latitude, but not the longitude where they need to look. Just missing that one number required them, in the end, to circumnavigate the globe. 


Beginning in South America, they cross the Andes and the Pampas in search of further clues to Captain Grant's location. Their adventures threaten their lives multiple times, but in the end, they came to the conclusion that he was not in South America.


The quest next took them through the Atlantic, finally landing in Australia. Here, the plot thickens when they met a man named Aryton who claimed to have first hand knowledge of the Britannia and of the possible location of Captain Grant. He served to guide them across the continent of Australia. But strange things began to happen, eventually raising their suspicions. As it turned out, Aryton was a criminal and was planning to capture Lord Glenarvan's yacht. 


The "good guys" display true selflessness and diligence as they encounter harrowing circumstances, all the while trying to serve the others in their party. 


As things turned out, Captain Grant was not in Australia. The searchers gave up hope and were planning to return to Scotland, but were going to maroon Aryton on an isolated island (per his request) in hopes that he would repent of his evil ways, instead of delivering him to the justice and the hangman. They located a small island that suited their purposes and were preparing to set them criminal ashore with supplies when they made a most joyous discovery. This tiny little island also happened to be at the same latitude they had been searching. Guess who they found?


It was a wonderful read, filled with so much interesting information about each of the areas they explored. As usual, Jules Verne needed in excess of 400 pages to tell the tale, but I'm glad he didn't leave anything out.


#51 out of 52 in the Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks Challenge.