“In the early 1950s, an 11-year-old boy in Colombo boards a ship bound for England. At mealtimes he is seated
at the “cat’s table”—as far from the Captain’s Table as can be—with a ragtag
group of “insignificant” adults and two other boys, Cassius and Ramadhin. As
the ship makes its way across the Indian Ocean, through the Suez Canal, into
the Mediterranean, the boys tumble from one
adventure to another, bursting all over the place like freed mercury. But there
are other diversions as well: One man talks with them about jazz and women,
another opens the door to the world of literature. The narrator’s elusive,
beautiful cousin Emily becomes his confidante, allowing him to see himself
“with a distant eye” for the first time, and to feel the first stirring of
desire. Another cat’s table denizen, the shadowy Miss Lasqueti, is perhaps more
than what she seems. And very late every night, the boys spy on a shackled
prisoner, his crime and his fate a galvanizing mystery that will haunt them
forever. As the narrative moves between the decks and holds of the ship and the
boy’s adult years, it tells a spellbinding story—by turns poignant and
electrifying—about the magical, often forbidden discoveries of childhood and a
lifelong journey that begins unexpectedly with a spectacular sea voyage.”
