This Barren Rock: A True Tale of Shipwreck and Survival on the Southern Seas

Description

The Scottish clipper Strathmore sailed from London in 1875, laden with gunpowder, iron and immigrants. Wrecked at night in furious seas, half her passengers struggled ashore to the bare, inhospitable rocks of the remote Crozet Islands. There they remained stranded, struggling to survive the bitter southern winter, given up for lost by their families and friends. Over 130 years later, Sylvie Haisman rediscovered her ancestors' epic adventure. Drawing on their journals, faded photographs and letters, she unearthed a story of gallant sailors, orphaned children, cruel hunger and debilitating cold. The Strathmore shipwreck was a sensation in Victorian times. Now this compelling story of courage, endurance and the determination to survive will move and inspire readers all over again.

Sylvie Haisman's radio feature Tell Me A Shipwreck aired on ABC Radio National in 2008 and 2009. Her story 'How to reverse gravity' was a prizewinner in the 2008-2009 Commonwealth Short Story Competition. Other stories have appeared in Heat, Southerly and Island magazines.