Kumla Bibliotek

The worst hurricane for over a century devastated the south coast of England in 1866, during a period when emergency services were in their infancy.

In the town of Poole, Dorset, the newly appointed lifeboat is launched to aid the numerous stricken ships in the vicinity but unaccountably fails to save any lives. Many sailors are drowned as a result. In an era when gallantry and self-sacrifice were expected, the lifeboatmen are publicly accused of cowardice by local dignitaries creating a serious rift in a close-knit community.

It is in this atmosphere of suspicion and blame that lifeboat coxswain Richard Stokes finds himself, tasked with overcoming a prevailing sense of pessimism and creating a viable team which will be ready for the next maritime emergency. By recognising the weaknesses that lie within both his crew and himself, he endeavours to take the sometimes painful steps to put things right. In a divided community battered by the rages of the sea, relationships and loyalties are tested in dramatic style.

When another opportunity eventually presents itself for the lifeboatmen to test their mettle, they are prepared to put all their plans into action and present a courageous front. In violent seas, they are called to a treacherously unstable wreck with forty-six men trapped on board. Will the coxswain and his men be able to save all souls on board and redeem past mistakes, or will this be yet another opportunity for the community to blast their efforts and deem their services dangerously insufficient?

This fast paced true story provides an authentic and enthralling evocation of a nineteenth century seafaring community on the brink of great change.

As featured on BBC Radio Solent and in the Bournemouth Echo