Weekly Reader: Girl At Sea: A Coming of Age Tale by David Burton; An Intriguing and Moving Rime of Two Modern Mariners

 

Weekly Reader: Girl At Sea: A Coming of Age Tale by David Burton; An Intriguing and Moving Rime of Two Modern Mariners

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: The Samuel Taylor Coleridge poem, "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" is about a sailor who shoots an albatross, a symbol of spirituality. The sailors tie the albatross around his neck as he and the crew take a nightmarish journey by ocean. While the sailors die, the Mariner suffers a fate worse than death. He lives an immortal existence telling the story of his voyage. The albatross fell from his neck, but the memory and story remain.

In his fascinating fantasy novel, Girl at Sea: A Coming of Age Tale by David Burton modernizes the story to make it about a teenage girl and her adopted sailor father who are also stalked by a bird. The only difference is that this bird is one that represents death.

Beth Portman is a young girl whose parents are killed in a house fire while she went sailing with a family friend, Silas Tuffs. Beth is grief stricken and desperate to hold onto family. She could live with Silas with whom she feels a genuine bond, but she ends up living at her best friend Judy's house. Judy's home isn't exactly happy with a verbally and sexually abusive monster for a father. When he turns his attention towards Beth, Judy begs her to run away so she does, back to Silas and his boat, The Montegar.

Silas is a good man and a genuinely loving father figure for Beth. They have a marvelous time sailing across the Pacific Ocean and visiting the scenic port cities. Why, they even obtain love interests. Unfortunately, their happy life ends when Silas's girlfriend is viciously murdered. After the attack, a strange black bird hovers over the ship looking for a new dead body and it becomes hungry for more.

Superstitious mariners spread tales that The Montegar brings death. The two soon find that no port can be home until they face this spirit of death and enemies that have been left behind.

Girl At Sea has a great plot and brilliant characterization, particularly in Beth and Silas. They are a touching father and daughter duo that fill a void in each other's lives. Beth lost her parents and Silas lost his wife and child. They are the family that one another needs. It is also refreshing that the book shows a single older man adopting a young child without any fears of something sordid. (In fact the sordid behavior comes from her friend's married father who acts like the traditional family man only to hide his sadistic pleasures behind that guise.) Silas and Beth are simply family to each other, a family that they need.

Burton offers some lovely description of sea travel with pristine oceans and colorful characters residing on the ports.Many characters from Marguerite, a sweet restauranteur who catches Silas's interest to Tom, an Australian teen who becomes a friend to Beth provide a safe harbor.

The descriptive paragraphs activate the senses such as: "Calm seas. A few wisps of white cloud in a clear blue sky. A warm ten knot breeze pushed Montegar with an easy motion through deep blue water. The sails were trimmed to a broad reach, genoa and main sails let out over the port side.... Uncoiled lines, askew seat cushions, ripped canvas, a bent lifeline stanchion testified to the storm receding on the northwestern horizon. Montegar sailed on, though no one was on deck. Down below, books, cushions, wet clothes littered the floor. Cans with tattered labels, smashed fruit, soggy cereal, broken glass, filled the galley sinks."

Burton fills the book with nautical terminology and know how on sailing. He clearly knows the environment in which he is writing. It's a rich and beautiful world that Burton writes about and that makes the violence that surrounds it somehow worse.

Beth, Silas, and their friends encounter some violent characters like pirates, abusive exes, criminals, and pedophiles. It's a dangerous world around the oceans and it's one that the death bird seems to feed. It predicts the cruelty and violence that they are exposed to. Similar to the Ancient Mariner, Beth and Silas are exposed to the dark side of human nature, one that hurts out of greed, revenge, or lust. Only unlike the Ancient Mariner who faces this world alone because of his actions, Beth and Silas face the darkness of others together. This togetherness helps them as they face their worst enemy.

Girl At Sea is a beautiful, dark, but ultimately triumphant book about recognizing evil that exists within some people, but also accepting the goodness that can be found through genuine friendship, lovers, and family. Only then can the albatross fall from our necks and we can truly be free.