"Black Waters", by Julia Jones

Julia Jones owns and sails Arthur Ransome’s ketch Peter Duck.

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The fifth novel in the "Strong Winds" series from Julia Jones.

Fans of Julia Jones’s "Strong Winds" series of books for teens and young – or not-so-young – adults have got the flavour of her rich and salty mix of east-coast-based sailing adventure and social issues. "Black Waters", the fifth in the series, focuses on Xanthe, the hot-shot Laser sailor who gets goaded into attacking a particularly obnoxious rival. Suspended from the GB squad, Xanthe is sent to cool her heels at a sailing camp out on the Essex marshes.

As usual, the boats are almost characters in themselves: In this case, as well as the Igraine, an historic Firefly dinghy and a mean motor launch. This is easily the darkest, almost noir even, of Jones’s Strong Winds books so far and at times the themes and trends of the plot threaten to entangle her, but she manages to control them in the end to deliver an unexpected but satisfying climax. - Peter Willis