Wager

By Richard Woodman

Book Overview

Wrenched by tragedy from a peaceful and respectable middle-class home in Victorian London, Hannah Kemball finds herself accompanying her father, Captain "Cracker Jack" Kemball, aboard the tea-clipper Erl King on a voyage to China.

It is 1869. In Shanghai and Foochow, the crack British tea-clippers are loading the season's tea, preparing for the annual race to bring their valuable cargoes and the fortunes of their swaggering crews halfway around the world to the London market. Unfortunately for Hannah, only one thing matters to the iron-willed captains about to pit their skills against the perils of three oceans: to be the first to make it home. Overconfident of victory, Captain Kemball strikes a wager with the sinister Captain Richards of the Seawitch. The stakes: Hannah's hand in marriage.

The race is on, and as the sails unfurl, so do the dangers for Hannah aboard her father's ship. As the fastest sailing vessels ever built storm across the world's oceans, she learns that this is a race with no rules, and that murder, mayhem, and deceit are all part of the game.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1493076310
• ISBN13: 9781493076314
• Release Date: April 2099
• Publisher: McBooks Press
• Length: 272 Pages

Customer Reviews

I couldn't put it down!

I literally couldn't put this book down! I read it in a day and a half. It is the story of Hannah Kemball, 21 years old, who has to go with her captain father who she barely knows, on his ship to China in the tea trade, because her mother has just died. It is a wonderful look into the life and ships of the Victorian tea trade. She meets Munro, who has definate feeling for her, as she quickly picks up the sailing jargon and ability. In China her father makes a bet with a fellow captain over who will make it back to England first- and the wager is her hand in marriage! It is a great story of Hannah's independence, determination, and strength, without giving too much away. The only problem I had with it were all the sailing terms, which I know nothing about. But those aren't hard to get through, or at least brush over if you don't know them. This is an amazing story, and I would definately recommend it to anyone who wanted a good read.