Summer Re-Read #3: The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle

The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle

By Avi

The (a) story follows thirteen-year-old Charlotte Doyle, who finds herself the lone passenger onboard the merchant ship, Seahawk, preparing to set sail across the Atlantic to America.

Miss Doyle is destined to be a “proper” young lady, and is distraught by her circumstances, being alone on a ship and surrounded by mangy, cursing sailors; scorching sun; stifling, flea-infested quarters; no escape, and no one to talk to except the captain, the one person on the ship who provides her with the elegance and class that she is used to. Captain Jaggery epitomizes the world she’s always known, while everything else is strange and frightening.

But life aboard the Seahawk is not what it appears to be: something sinister lurks beneath the surface, and before the story ends, Miss Doyle is pushed through a number of trials that will test her loyalties, her strengths, and her heart.

The (A) story is about order and chaos. Not just the order of how a ship is to be run, but also the order of human beings. AKA: social class. Over the course of the story, “Miss Doyle” rises to “Charlotte” as she discovers first a more open-minded sense of place, and finally, her own sense of belonging in the midst of it all. Her adventures on the high seas change her in ways she couldn’t possibly have imagined on day one of her voyage, contradicting all the beliefs and traditions that have long been pounded into her head by her parents, her society, and her boarding school.

Much of this is observed through her initial thoughts of Zachariah, the ship’s cook (and a black man in the 1830s), and her admiration of the captain—a man so consumed by his desire for order that a level of madness hovers just beneath the surface. A very “punctilious” man who, Charlotte acknowledges in the beginning (and contemplates at the end), is so reminiscent of her own father. These two contrasting relationships provide her first steps toward discovering the true meanings of friendship and respect—and not the meanings designated by others.

The story also traces lightly over the roles of women and young girls in this society, for as Charlotte finds a place for herself among the crew, she attempts feats that are seen as “unnatural” to some, particularly those of the order that she leaves behind. But possibly the most astonishing thing is the further she gets into this new life, the more she realizes how much she loves it and those around her.

I first read this book in sixth grade, as part of a class assignment. Immediately I was struck by the high seas adventure. It was the kind of adventure I had always dreamed about, and living it vicariously through Charlotte, a character around my own age at the time, was enchanting for me.

Even as an adult, I am still drawn in by the idea of it. One scene in particular, when she climbs the mast in a storm, is so wonderfully vivid in its description that I feel I am there with her.

However, there were a couple things that bugged me this time through. Oddly enough, one was punctuation. Normally I don’t care too much about that—as a creative writer, you learn to break all the rules they drilled into your head in elementary school—but in this case, I ran into several sentences where the author seemed to ignore the use of commas, which made some of the inflections confusing to read properly. I can remember that even our teacher was stuck at one point, trying to read it out loud, and I had spent the next five minutes or so of class figuring out how the sentence was supposed to be read.

Another thing was her connection with the crew. Initially, it seems great: they seem to all become comrades—but at the first sign of trouble they turn against her. In some cases this could be understandable, mostly because of a side plot that would require their allegiance to another crew member before her. But what bugs me is how quickly they turn, especially because the person accusing her of something she did not do is the person they should be trusting the least—a fact that they should be well aware of long before this point.

Like I said, the author had reasons for this, but I wasn’t fully convinced by them. Granted, I guess I would rather have the whole perfect loyalty scenario, where no crew member is left behind once they’ve proven themselves to the others… But I suppose it’s more realistic the way the author had it set up. Deep down, everyone (especially a ragtag group of sailors) is still looking out for number one. Even though I’d rather say otherwise.

Still worth the read? A definite yes! If you enjoy a good adventure story, then this is one for you to pick up this summer. Especially for lakeside reading.