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THE TRAVELS OF FRANK FORRESTER, by Carl Osgood, Vista House Publishing, P.O. Box 169, Surry 04684, 197 pages, $15.
Carl C. Osgood’s “The Travels of Frank Forrester” is historical fiction, but the author’s admission of combining fact with fiction downplays the strength of a narrative that, at times, rivals Kenneth Roberts, perhaps the master of that genre.
Osgood has a real gem here, and readers will welcome the opportunity to trek across the world with this great adventurer.
Cleverly, Osgood sets the stage for this one through the eyes and ears of the main character’s granddaughter, Mary Jordan, and beginning with a hand-drawn Forrester family tree, readers will be caught up and bound breathlessly to every mast of every ship that the old man ever sailed.
And although the author champions the self-imposed lifestyle of this true adventurer, he scolds him, too, for deserting a young family to pursue such seemingly selfish needs. But Forrester seems to shrug off even that criticism like a blast of seawater from the starboard side, and continues on his five-year journey, only to return to a family depleted in numbers by disease and death.
Besides spinning such a nifty yarn, Osgood gives us a good history lesson of our own region. But Frank Forrester is the real story here.
From Falmouth to the North Pacific for fur trading expeditions, Forrester’s account reads like a Jack London short story. And just when readers think the author’s imagination has outdone itself, he provides yet another story within a story through Boris Kernov’s “Siberian Journal,” and the crew’s Vladivostok adventures.
Carl C. Osgood’s self-published “The Travels of Frank Forrester” deserves praise and attention from those who enjoy a good book and who may want to look at a surprising new local literary talent.
ISLAND IN THE BAY, by Dorothy Simpson, Blackberry Books, RR 1, Box 228, Nobleboro 04555, 184 pages, $9.95.
Dorothy Simpson’s tale of adventure and the coming of age, first published in 1956 by J.B. Lippincott Co., deserves a reprint and gets one in the Blackberry Books’ recently released “Islands in the Bay.”
It is hoped Simpson’s tale will enthrall a whole new audience, as it unveils the trials of a youth, Linn Robertson, and his many adventures on Lee’s Island. For the 16-year-old aspiring fisherman, the adult world looms as mysterious and as dangerous as any fog bank that might engulf him and his idyllic little world.
Simpson’s talent in bringing the coastal community to life is only surpassed by her ability to get inside the head of a boy struggling with his impending manhood.
Lovers of the sea will want to grab this one and haul it aboard like one of Linn’s lobster traps. Advertised as young adult literature, this book has lessons for us all.
Ron Brown lives in Bangor.
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