Fire Down Below

The battered former warship enters the final stage of its voyage towards Sydney Cove after storms, ice and damage have left its hull dangerously unstable. Edmund Talbot tries to maintain the confidence expected of a gentleman and colonial official, but the crowded passengers are increasingly conscious that rope and improvised repairs may be all that keep the vessel afloat. Rivalry among the officers, frustrated desire and the marriage of Mr Prettiman and Miss Granham unfold while the sea exposes how little control anyone aboard possesses.

A hazardous operation to reset the foremast uses heated metal inside the damaged ship, and an unseen fire begins smouldering below decks. As wind, waves and an iceberg threaten the vessel, Talbot must abandon some of the detachment and class assurance with which he began the journey. The novel brings the passengers to Australia and closes Talbot’s education through maritime disaster, communal dependence and a final reckoning with the imperial society he is preparing to enter.