East Wind is a short, quick immersing read. It’s a love story celebrating how love can bring complete happiness but is fragile too.
Until that happiness is shattered…
The main protagonist Olaf Knudsen,
otherwise known as Bill, ‘all his life he had known nothig but trouble, ‘ a murderer but justly in his eyes, loves his ship and cares for it tenderly. To him the ship is a lady to be cherished and protected from ill treatment.
And Bill has known what it is to suffer the terrible wrath of ill treatment.
The love of the vessel itself East Wind is conveyed … in stirring passages…
“From him down to the lowest deckhand, she stirred the hearts of these tough seamen. The captain recognised her Pilot Boat design. Her keel was laid in 1905. She was one of the last of a long line designed by Colin Archer, the Scottish Norwegian boat designer, famous for creating the design for Fridtjof Nansen’s indestructible arctic ship – Fram.”
East wind travels to many exotic and far flung destinations and Bill does much to save himself and his beloved vessel from discovery.
Bill reconnects to the triad Matriarch Mamma Tan, in Singapore and through her he mets Lin Mai, her granddaughter, and falls in love.
About Mamma Tan: ‘Nothing happened in and around Singapore that she didn’t know about. Even though she was elderly, she was as sharp as a tack.”
But all is not plain sailing… troubles amd sadness continue to follow Bill!
Later on in the story, a new love is introduced… for the third gender … when Bill meets transgender Katya and surprises himself by falling in love.
Well written, not quite what I was expecting! I should have read more into the blurb.
Particularly recommended for the LGBT community. But a short enjoyable read for those with an open mind, (mildly erotic,) who enjoy short stories about the high seas and love in all its forms.
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