From the author of Under the Volcano: A novel of a young man’s flight from the upper class to join the hard-living crew of a freighter bound for South Asia. In this debut novel by the acclaimed novelist and poet, Dana Hilliot seeks absolution from his wealthy British upbringing, escaping the bourgeois provincialism of his origins by setting out to sea as a messboy amid a crew of weathered, world-weary sailors. Lost somewhere between Singapore and Bombay, Hilliot has fled his oppressive life—and his first love—for a world that has no interest in his problems. Part Moby Dick, part A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Ultramarine draws on Malcolm Lowry’s own early experience—and displays the flair for character and dazzling prose that distinguished him as one of English literature’s greatest modern talents.
