The Merry-Go-Round in the Sea (Masterplots II: British and Commonwealth Fiction Series)
At a glance:
- Author: Randolph Stow
- First Published: 1965
- Type of Work: Bildungsroman
- Time of Work: 1942-1949
- Setting: Geraldton, Western Australia, and its environs
- Principal Characters: Rob Coram, Rick Maplestead, Hugh Mackay, Jane Wexford
- Genres: Long fiction, Bildungsroman
- Subjects: Maturation or coming of age, Children, Memory, Nature, 1940’s, World War II, Rural or country life, Friendship, Shipwrecks, Boys, Prisoners of war, Australia or Australians
- Locales: Geraldton, Australia
The Novel
Rob Coram is six years old when, during World War II, Japanese forces threaten his isolated corner of the world—the rural coastal farmlands of Western Australia. For the next three and a half years, he grows up constantly fretting about the safety of his cousin and hero, Rick Maplestead. After Rick’s return from the war, the friendship is reestablished, but Rick is not the carefree young man he was, and Rob’s intellectual and emotional growth are affected by his friend’s outlook.
Rob and his immediate family live in Geraldton, a town about 250 miles...
[The entire page is 2002 words long]
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