The Secret Life of James Cook by Graeme Lay

A full-time writer, editor and reviewer, Graeme Lay is widely published in both fiction and non-fiction, for both adults and younger readers and he has won several awards. He has a deep interest in the islands of the South Pacific and Australasia, their exploration and settlement and lectures on the subject on Pacific crusies. He is the perfect person to write such a novel and what a superb job he has made of it. I am not a great reader of historical fiction but I totally enjoyed this book from beginning to end and I look forward to the sequel the author is apparently already working on.

In his introduction Lay introduces us to the 16 year old James Cook in the year 1745. He is leaving home, walking 20 miles from his inland Yorkshire village to a coastal town to begin an apprenticeship as a grocer.
Then he flicks forward to 1771 when the 43 year old Lieutenant James Cook RN has just returned from a circumnavigation of the world and is presented to King George III at St.James's Palace.
This book is the story of  James Cook during the years between 1745 and 1771, from his youth and early naval career to his first round-the -world voyage; it tells the story not only as a great naval commander but also as a son, husband, father and family man.
I warmly recommend this title, a large (368 pages) and most satisfying work that should be widely read, especially by many New Zealanders as the subject is, of course, one of the major figures in our history.

I reviewed this book with Kathryn Ryan on Radio NZ National earlier today.
It is published by Harper Collins - RRP $36.99 (a bargain!)

Footnote:

Graeme Lay will be in conversation with Andrew Fagan at this years Going West Books and Writers' Festival, 13-15 Sept.