Clearwater

Young Finley Bathbourne, distraught by his father's transportation to New South Wales on a dubious charge of poaching, vows to rescue and return him to British shores.

A sea Journey aboard a prison ship, taking more than 12 months, introduces the callow youth to the adult pleasures of Rio de Janeiro's nightlife and the terrifying thunderous seas of the roaring forties transforming him, at just 16 years of age, from adolescence to manhood.

The return journey, via India and Cape Town, is fraught with impediment and sadness.

His only reward is his father's instruction to seek the meaning of clearwater from his mother on his return to England.

However, during his absence Colonel Clewer, who was responsible for his father's imprisonment, instructs the watchman to arrest Finley on his arrival back in the county.

Gaining sanctuary in the local church he thwarts the colonel's intentions but exposes some deep secrets which have significant effects on his future.