Close Quarters

by William Golding Book 2 in the To the Ends of the Earth series.

First published 1987

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3.9(88)

The voyage to Australia continues after Edmund Talbot seals the journal that recorded Robert Colley’s death. The former warship enters tropical waters, where oppressive heat, stillness and sea mist intensify the strain among passengers and crew. A shipboard ball briefly turns the voyage into a social performance, and Talbot becomes increasingly attached to Marion Chumley despite the uncertainty surrounding her future.

Beneath the festivities, the vessel is deteriorating and the authority of its officers is becoming less secure. Talbot’s romantic confidence is challenged by jealousy, disappointment and the practical demands of a dangerous passage, while sailors and emigrants endure conditions he still only partly understands. The novel continues his slow education in responsibility as emotional confusion and structural crisis threaten the closed society of the ship.