National Network for Equitable Library Service

Shipwreck. Starvation. Cannibalism. For the first time, celebrated author Gary Collins brings to life the tale of the brigantine Queen of Swansea. Bound for Newfoundland in December 1867, the vessel made her first port of call in St. John’s, only to meet her doom on the rocks of Gull Island, Cape John. The following spring, Captain Mark Rowsell of Leading Tickles chanced upon the fallen ship’s crew on his return voyage from the seal hunt. His discovery of the wreckage, and the fate of the men and women on board, marks a chilling and unforgettable event that has echoed worldwide in the history of seagoing vessels. Here, Gary Collins recreates the final voyage of the Queen of Swansea in a story with a gruesome turn of events that makes it unique in the annals of Atlantic shipwrecks. Desperation: The Queen of Swansea is Gary Collins’s eleventh book. His book What Colour is the Ocean? won the 2010 Atlantic Book Awards Lillian Shepherd Memorial Award for Excellence in Illustration.