At the end of Treasure Island, Long John Silver and Jim Hawkins survive, but leave behind a handful of pirates and most of the loot. What happens when you put the ex-poet laureate, Sir Andrew Motion, together with this tale that Robert Louis Stevenson’s wrote for his stepson in 1883? A rollicking good story and a worthy sequel!

Jim Hawkins’ son, Jim Junior, and Long John Silver’s daughter, Natty, set sail for Treasure Island to find the treasure their parents left behind. There they encounter evil and debauched pirates, pitiful downtrodden slaves and strange creatures. The years haven’t been kind to the pirates and their leader, Smirke, seems to have a touch of dementia.

‘It is and it isn’t a children’s book. I hope children of a certain disposition will like it but there’s quite a bit of dark stuff in the story I’m writing – it’s pretty grim,’ said Motion. The story is told in Jim’s voice as in the original, but this Jim has been educated so it has a different feel to the original. And of course, things have changed and the times are bit more genteel so the encounters with the uncouth pirates are quite a culture shock. Still there are lots of adventures to thrill and amuse.

Motion has pulled it off and his sequel is a great successor to the original.

[[mark-rubbo]] Mark Rubbo is the Managing Director of Readings