Reviews of The Boat in the Bay

Children and boats and believable adventure and resourcefullness. if arthur ransome had written another title in the Swallows and Amazons series this could be it. five stars . how could i not know this author?

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A group of young friends are on holiday beside a lake. They find themselves cut off from the adult world by rain and floods, and must learn to fend for themselves. Superbly written, with a wonderful depiction of children and childhood, to say that this book is in some ways a cross between an Arthur Ransome novel and an optimistic "Lord of the flies" doesn't do its originality justice. It's suitable for older children, teenagers, and adults. I look forward to the promised sequel. Highly recommended.
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Children behaving well, getting caught out by circumstances and weather, doing their best and ( usually ) saving the day. Adults portrayed as reasonable, intelligent and usually kind but mostly left in the background so the children can adventure unhindered. This was a delightful gentle romp through happy childhood holidays portrayed with enough drama to keep it interesting.
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This is a fantastic read that will remind you of the excitement you had as a child reading adventure books. First in a series of books by the author, it has a classic feel similar to The Chronicles of Narnia, Jim Button or Momo, while giving readers real insight into what life was like for children growing up during the period between two world wars. Nostalgic yet realistic, the book can be enjoyed by both children and adults alike.

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I read this book first in 2010 as a paperback, and find myself re-reading it again and again. Memorable, lovely story, a thoroughly enjoyable read.
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The Boat in the Bay has become a book that I can now strongly recommend - the old version needed another round of editing to sort out some of the problems with the pacing, the overly anxious thoughts of the characters, and the excessive illustration of the degree to which the weather was wet. All of those problems have been fixed in the revised edition and it is now well-written throughout, allowing the story to shine. While there's a lot of talk about camping, circumstances actually lead to things being rather domestic with cooking taking place in kitchens, so it's worth warning readers not to set up the wrong expectations - what they should expect is some dramatic action on the water and more than a little danger. I'm pleased to see that the ending (once the action calms down) has not been changed at all, because it is one of the most beautifully written finishes to a book that I've seen anywhere, one which can serve as a masterclass in how to write. I've increased my rating to four stars, but it would be four and a half if the software allowed it. The only reason I haven't felt able to give it the full five stars is that there are a number of faults in the story which will annoy intelligent readers, and I have to be consistent with the way I've rated other books, but I must advise people to be forgiving of any faults they spot, particularly as this book is really just the first chapter of a longer story, the third book of which (The Pink House) is an absolutely first-rate children's novel that reveals Kennedy to be right up there with the very best of children's writers. Be aware that he has since revealed himself to be a first-rate writer for adults too, taking characters from this series of children's books and showing us what they got up to after they grew up - readers of those books will get a little extra value from them if they have read through his three children's books first.
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I really enjoyed this book. It was like meeting up with relatives (the ones you like!) you haven’t seen for ages or catching up with old friends.  You have a shared background and interests but, since you last met, lots of things have happened and you aren’t quite sure what. Nor are you sure how the narrative will move forward. A delightful read for lovers of the Swallows and Amazons series; it made me ‘smile out loud’. Sallie Eden, The Magazine of The Arthur Ransome Society.

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Alan Kennedy’s The Boat in the Bay is the first of a trilogy of novels (followed by The Broken Bell and The Pink House). Admirers of Arthur Ransome will find many deliberate and playful echoes of the Swallows and Amazons novels: this is about the adventures that children have when distanced from the adult world (here by flood, and impassable roads, and cut-off telephones). There's a Lake and two dinghies; a lively 'native' girl (though not quite a pirate) who plans things; a responsible sea-faring boy (less arrogant than Ransome’s John); a 'Susan' figure who is the domestic one, but who here is more the focus and hero of the story as well; and two younger children who squeeze into their dinghy before the mast and are, respectively, imaginative and insatiably hungry. Add in a father who is a sea captain, an uncle who lives on 'the boat in the bay', and a jolly cook, and you get the idea.
But The Boat in the Bay is nevertheless a book that stands by itself altogether and has its own considerable strengths. There is less emphasis than in Swallows and Amazons on playing games: the children encounter real danger and the tension is akin to that in the wonderful central chapters of Ransome’s We Didn’t Mean to Go to Sea. The characters are entirely believable (and likeable) and the pace builds steadily to a riveting climax. The prose is clear but full of atmosphere, the dialogue is realistic, and the device of parallel narrative (another Ransome echo) is used to good effect.
Today's young readers may wonder about a middle class world of large houses, and servants, and telephones where you dial the operator. They will know that this is about life long ago (1929 – the year of Swallows and Amazons) and that today a mobile phone would make the whole adventure impossible. But they will, I think, also lament a freedom that they can never have. For the young and young at heart, it's certainly worth suspending disbelief and enjoying the non-stop action. Julian Lovelock.
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