A Sea Change

In May 1939, the SS St Louis left Hamburg for Havana carrying almost a thousand refugees from Hitler's Germany. On arrival in Cuba, they were forbidden entry and the captain was forced to turn back. Over the following weeks, the ship crisscrossed the ocean, buffeted alternately by hope and disappointment, as it vainly sought asylum in a friendly port and war drew inexorably closer. Based on actual events, Michael Arditti's enthralling novel is the memoir of one of the passengers, fifteen year- old Karl, heir to a department store fortune. He recounts both the horror and excitement of the trip, along with his personal voyage of discovery, as he learns the truth about his family, battles Nazi crew members and plans mutiny. Most momentously, he describes his first, passionate love affair with the beautiful Johanna. `A Sea Change' is a mesmerizing journey through history. A tale of dreams and betrayal, of courage and resilience, of romance and reconciliation, it unforgettably evokes an extraordinary summer in which a boy crosses the threshold from youth to maturity.