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A Journey Across the Sea to Adventure and Love In the 1960s cargo freighters were an appealing and popular mode of travel. Cargo ships would carry up to twelve people, and reservations were made for two people to a room. This wasn't the luxury we know as cruise travel today. There was no lavish decor; the rooms were clean and functional. There were no sumptuous feasts or all-day eating affairs so common on today's ships. The meals resembled home-cooked food. There was no extravagant entertainment. In fact there was no entertainment at all, except for that found in the sea and fellow passengers. This sort of travel wasn't for everyone, but for some it was their favorite way to travel. Thirst for a Rainbow is a novel about this mode of travel, and the people who love it. Twelve people--eleven women and only one man--are aboard the freighter San Jose bound for Costa Rica. They'll be at sea for fourteen days. There's no escape and not much privacy, and the strangers thrown together don't remain strangers for long. And it doesn't take long for gossip and rumors to spring up. Who is the roommate of the only man aboard, that mysterious woman who always wears a mantilla? The other women aboard wonder about her and believe she hasn't been confined to her room merely for seasickness. But they refrain from asking questions; there's plenty of time on a fourteen-day journey to satisfy their curiosity. About fifty miles separate the Caribbean Sea from the Pacific Ocean, and to reach their destination passengers must disembark at the port of Colon in Panama. Here three limousines wait for the passengers and drive them across the Isthmus of Panama to the Pacific Coast. After being transported by tender to where the ship waits for them offshore, they'll board the freighter again. Each passenger must climb a rope ladder to the deck of the freighter. Throughout the trip the passengers are thrown together, and the only man aboard becomes attracted to one of the younger women. Though both of them thirst for solutions in their lives, they are reluctant to take any chances or to accept the challenge of change. Memories of her past haunt the young woman. The man is disturbed by the present. By the time the ship returns to home port, these two people have changed in spite of themselves--so much that they will never again be the same. Freighters aren't for all people, but they do appeal to the adventurous in spirit and lovers of the sea. And whoever takes a freighter to a different land will come home a different person. |
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About the Author: Edna M. Marstad has lived close to the sea all her life, partly through her Scandinavian Viking ancestry, and partly through her work as a legal aid and a goodwill representative for a mining company. She is the author of the historical work Yesterday's Hog Island. She lives and writes in Palm Springs, Florida. |
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Thirst For a Rainbow 224 pages, paperback, $12.95 For ordering information, click here or phone (800) 662-8351 |