Peter Trawl; Or, the Adventures of a Whaler
1882
A reckless young man's fall from grace becomes an unlikely voyage toward manhood. When Peter Trawl, son of an Irish vicar, is caught poaching with unsavory companions, his father faces a devastating choice: let his son face prison, or transplant him to the New World. Fifteen pounds buys Peter passage on the Black Swan, a leaky emigrant ship captained by a man as cruel as the sea is merciless. What begins as punishment becomes a crucible: fire at sea, rescue by a decent captain, and finally a berth aboard the whaler Foam, where Peter hunts whales across dangerous waters while searching for his brother Jack, lost to the oceans before the story begins. Kingston delivers exactly what adventure fiction promises - storms, near-death encounters, and a boy's transformation into something resembling a man. For readers who loved Treasure Island and Horatio Alger, this 1882 tale offers the raw, untamed spirit of the sea and the resilient human heart.
