Home thoughts from abroad
She had chosen to remain on board because she did not feel like sight-seeing or merry-making, and because Marriott had been so persistent in pressing her to come with them. She considered how much she...
Category: John Christopher
Courtesy, warmth – and persistence
An elaborate cold buffet had been laid out in the dining-room. Marriott waited until the ladies had been served, and then made his own selection. The choice was wide and many of the items exotic:...
Cloud on Silver
A disparate group of Londoners are brought together by Sweeney, a mysteriously charismatic man of wealth, for a luxury cruise in the South Pacific – they know not why. Sailing far from the normal shipping routes, the ship weighs anchor just off an uninhabited tropical island…
Each time you turn your back
Nadya moved forward until she was quite close to Mary. She was smiling slightly. She said softly: ‘Are you not grateful? I brought you food. And I brought you back your man.’ ‘You can keep...
Classic fiction from 1964
1964, it seems, was a great year for adventure novels. Joshua Glenn, in his HiLoBrow blog (‘Middlebrow is not the solution’), has listed his ten favourites published that year, and the list reads like a...
Did you think I would keep my word?
‘It is more than a week since my body was clean, and I found soap out there in the pantry.’ He helped her to put the bath down beside the stove. She looked at him....
Bear fight
This was the time to get away. Mouritzen called to Nadya: ‘This way! We will escape while they are fighting.’ But instead of coming towards him, she threw herself against the flank of the polar...
I need you down here!
Thorsen continued to stare into the crevasse. Nadya called up: ‘It is still sinking.’ ‘We must lose no time,’ Mouritzen said. ‘I will go first. You come after me, by the same route.’ He eased...
They have not gone to Cannes
‘We have almost no food,’ Olsen said. ‘If the blizzard returns, we may have none. If we can find it, I think it is time to kill the bear.’ Mouritzen shook his head. ‘The bear...
Authorgraph – interview with John Christopher
Back in 1981, Pat Triggs, of long-established children’s book magazine, ‘Books for Keeps’, interviewed Sam Youd: You’d think that publishers would be more than happy with a successful author who was producing four books a...