Beresford, J.D. Men in the Same Boat

Co-written with Esme Wynne-Tyson. An intriguing novel unreviewed by compiler. The Times Literary Supplement of Aug. 14, 1943 describes the novel thusly: “The boat of the story is a torpedoed ship’s lifeboat which drifts helplessly across the seas while its inmates struggle vainly against thirst, hunger and exposure. The seven characters re distinctly drawn. One of them, the Passenger, is something of a mystery man and the poor Padre is draped in a rather artificial cloak of gentle unction to throw into relief the Passenger’s authentic spiritual wisdom. But the sense of what each character stands for is unfolded through what each is. And this is particularly true of the taciturn Seaman and voluble Operator. But in Book II we are in another world, for which we have indeed been prepared by various references in the conversation of the shipwrecked to the theories of ‘Karma’ and reincarnation. Each of the characters in fact survives in a novel way. It is ingeniously done, but apart from the Jew and the Operator, who provide a good melodramatic sequel on their return to earth, the interest flags, though the idea is suggestive.” For a complementary story line see James Hanley’s 1941 novel of survival at sea, The Ocean.