Mutiny

On 23 December 1787, in Portsmouth, John Jacob Turnstile is fourteen and headed for prison after one brush with the police too many. Then he is offered a way out. A ship has just been refitted and is about to sail on an important mission, and the boy meant to serve as the captain's personal valet has been injured. A replacement is needed at once.

John takes the deal and is aboard, face to face with the captain, as the ship leaves port. She is HMS Bounty, her captain is William Bligh, and she is bound for Tahiti.

This is historical fiction told through the eyes of a boy who has no place on the ship and no say in where it goes. It follows the whole of the Bounty's voyage: the long crossing of the ocean, the stay on Tahiti, the mutiny itself, and the 48 day expedition toward Timor that comes after.

The tone mixes humour with violence, and the novel leans on period detail to recreate a famous event. Its portraits of Captain Bligh and Mr Christian depart from the usual versions of these men.