The Lonely Voyage

The gripping tale of one boy's journey into manhood and towards war. Jess Ferigo, a young man with few prospects other than growing old in the same town he has always known, dreams of a life at sea, much to the ire of his family. Making the tough decision to leave his old life behind, he takes up a position in charge of poaching on a battered trawler, accompanied by Pat Fee and Old Boxer, a wreck of an educated man who redeems Jess. As he leaves his boyhood behind, bitter years are followed by the Second World War where Old Boxer and Jess make a poignant rescue on the sand dunes of Dunkirk. After years of searching, finally Jess Ferigo's lonely voyage is over. The Lonely Voyage is John Harris' first novel a graphic, moving tale of the sea from an author who understands a sailor's life in wartime like few others,

Jess’s maritime apprenticeship culminates in the evacuation from Dunkirk, connecting a personal coming-of-age story with a national military crisis. The novel’s knowledge of working boats and seafaring communities gives civilian maritime labour a central role in wartime rescue.