I flew through this one - this year has been full of firsts, and this was my first book by Ransome. This is a part of a long standing series though, but I loved reading this as a standalone. The story reminded me so much of my childhood - I always wanted to camp out and sail my own boat!

This book was full of adventures and I loved the Great Aunt's exaggerated evil character - that is one of my favorite tropes in children's fiction, which I enjoyed most in The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken.

Ransome's past is itself an interesting story - his involvement with the Bolsheviks is infinitely adventurous. Definitely also worth reading.