Rereading: CRUSOE ISLAND by M. E. Atkinson

Cover and illustrations by Harold Jones

The sixth book about the Locketts and their British holiday adventures is a corker. Torrential rains that go on for days have ruined their planned holiday in rented rooms at a cottage with Aunt Lavinia, so after a week they decide to pack up and return to her new home. The Locketts: Oliver, Jane and Bill, and their friends Anna and Robin Angel with their dog Angelina soon get separated from their Aunt, and the planned reunion at the cottage goes badly wrong for both parties. The children are forced to try to get there on their bikes, but the rains are soon so bad that the countryside around them is flooded. Desperate for a dry refuge, they break into an empty cottage in a remote place with only one other apparently empty cottage next to it, and otherwise surrounded by flooded fields and gardens. Realizing they’re in another adventure, they declare the cottage their Crusoe Island, and soon the arrival of a nearly drowned cocker spaniel and two soggy hens complete the group, with the dog being named Man Friday.

At first it’s fun, and they’re able to send a telegram to Aunt Lavinia’s house, but unknown to them, she’s had an auto accident and never receives it, in fact is in the hospital, unconscious. The children explore the two houses and gather enough resources to make two rafts, but then Oliver gets sick, and Bill falls and breaks his kneecap. The fun is now gone, and someone must brave the floods to go for help. Anna takes on that job, but she’s not the strongest or the best swimmer. Will their raft and her strength last long enough to reach someone?

An exciting page turner, Atkinson’s style has tightened with experience, and this 336 page book is remarkably taut and suspenseful, though there’s also room for character development and bits of humor. Recommended.

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