Jess Carter and the Bolinder

by Geoffrey Lewis

Paperback £6.99; ISBN 978-0-9564536-2-4; May 2011; SGM Publishing
Digital

Jess Carter and the Oil Boa>Jess Carter and the Bolinder>Jess Carter and the Rodneys

Following the enthusiastic reception of his first canal story for younger readers, Geoffrey Lewis has now continued the tale of the mixed-race boy and his new, adopted family.

This second book picks up the tale of young Jess Carter where the first book left off. We go with Jess and Luke Kain south to Uxbridge, where their new boat is being built, and then travel with them as they make their way back towards Birmingham and the Thomas Clayton Ltd yard at Oldbury where Luke’s mother and sisters await them. Along the way, we see Jess settling ever more happily into the new life he has discovered on England’s canals, and his relationship with Luke growing to resemble that of brothers as the two of them struggle with the complications of handling a diesel-powered boat after the relative simplicity of horse-power. Their inexperience is compounded by mechanical difficulties – and then they meet a friendly but vaguely mysterious Dutchman, travelling the canals for his Amsterdam newspaper…

Jess Carter and the Bolinder covers different ground (or water!) as they load tar from Uxbridge Gas Works and return up the Grand Union Canal, stopping overnight at various places which, as with all of Mr Lewis’ stories, will be familiar to any seasoned canal enthusiast. And as ever, the background of his tale is historically accurate, recreating the world of the working canal in the last days before the Second World War. This book, like its predecessor, will appeal as much to Mr Lewis’ band of older readers as to its target audience – those who know his popular Michael Baker Trilogy might even spot a few familiar faces along the way!

Once more aimed at all children (of any age!) with a competent reading standard, Jess Carter & the Bolinder again recreates the world of the working canal as it might have been seen by two young lads, in charge of seventy feet and about forty tons of loaded narrowboat travelling north to the Black Country. Once more also, the details of their trip are founded in fact – Thomas Clayton (Oldbury) Ltd had many new motor boats built at Uxbridge, which were then worked back to their Birmingham base by their own crews. Loading with tar from the gas works not only made economic sense but helped to seal the new oak planking of the hulls!  And the description of starting and running a Bolinder engine is drawn from Mr Lewis’ first-hand experience.

There are moments of melancholy and of joy in the tale, as is true of all of Mr Lewis’ writing; and their encounters with Jan Hijssen lead up to a startling and dramatic conclusion, which will enthral the book’s intended readership while the accurate account of the waterways of 1939 will not fail to satisfy his older followers.

Jess Carter and the Oil Boat>Jess Carter and the Bolinder> Jess Carter and the Rodneys