Review by Frank Plowright
Hope Larson pushes the emotional buttons early in Compass South as she introduces Manhattan resident Dodge, who left his love behind in Ireland in 1843. We see his dissolute lifestyle and learn Hester has died, but via a messenger asks he raise her two babies as his own. By 13 Alex and Cleo have grown into thieves very much used to surviving on their own wits. What’s also revealed is that they don’t know everything about their past or their possessions, and that sets off a spirited period adventure.
While Larson supplies intrigue from the start, what cements Compass South as a compelling adventure story is the effort Rebecca Mock puts into the art. There are no shortcuts as she draws full locations, well populated, and very expressive people. It’s down to the sympathetic way they’re drawn that Alex and Cleo form an immediate bond with readers despite their thieving, and when other protagonists are introduced Mock works her magic on them also. Much of the story takes place at sea, and Mock’s version of what a proper ocean storm can do is magnificent.
This has such a clever plot, so well paced, and Larson’s canny in always moving away from what readers may predict. In trouble near the start, Alex and Cleo find a newspaper article and decide to masquerade as missing red haired twins, but matters are complicated by another set of red haired twins, and although they don’t know it, there are some ruthless people on their trail. Larson elevates her story via not shying away from the difficult lives of children during the mid 19th century, and via small touches, all well thought through. Among them are the use of shoes on a ship’s deck or the superstitions of sailors, and what appears a story about one thing becomes one of bonding and friendship in adverse circumstances. The only slight distraction is Larson could have paid more attention to the dialogue in places.
Compass South is a clever title, obviously referring to most of the story taking place on ships heading around South America on their way from New York to San Francisco, but another meaning is revealed. This is a real page turner, where the surprises keep coming, the final one being that the adventure continues in Knife’s Edge.
