Journey to the River Sea

Maia, a gifted, modest and courageous orphan, is taken from her English boarding school one day to be sent off to a new life with unknown relatives who live in Manaus, an exotic city on the Amazon. She is accompanied by Miss Minton, a dauntingly fierce, learned and mysterious governess, who soon spots that the Carters have thoroughly nasty motives for claiming Maia. In attempting to escape from this badly damaged family, the couple become embroiled in a wild saga involving criminalistic strolling players, a steamboat journey into the territory of a lost tribe, and an attempt by inept detectives to return a feral youth to his dreaded English inheritance. This is a thoroughly enjoyable yarn, veering between farce and tragedy, and peopled with highly quixotic but believable characters. It revels in the joy and the danger of exploration, and its core message is contained in the remark made in the final chapter: 'children must lead big lives ... if it is in them to do so.' Very highly recommended for romantics of all ages, and all others in need of a good story.