A DONKEYMAN'S JOURNEY - PARTS 1 & 2
A donkeyman was the name given to the person responsible for all things mechanical on the early steam fishing smacks and trawlers. The donkeyman referred to in these two volumes was my great-grandfather Kahrl (later Charley) Evardson (1858 - 1917). His journey wasn't an easy one - from Latvian peasant to loyal Englishman. Charley, his wife Juhla (later Matilda) and their six children play the main characters in this largely fictional historical novel, woven around what few facts we know about them.
PART ONE - THE LATVIAN EXILE
Part One finds young peasant woodsman Kahrl Evardson travelling to Riga, to take up an engineering apprenticeship on the docks of the Baltic capital. Mistreated by his brutal foreman Stefan Karpov, Kahrl nevertheless earns his qualification and aspires to the life of a well-paid tradesman.
His ambitions are dashed though when he is falsely accused of murder. With self-exile his only option, he signs on as a lowly welder aboard the freighter Dama Katrina, where his drudgery is lightened only by the presence of cabin maid Juhla Rachoan, with whom he falls hopelessly in love.
But realising he has nothing to offer her, in desperation he jumps ship on Tyneside, where he succumbs to a life of poverty as a half-drunken skivvy on South Shields docks. Here he sinks to such depths that it seems only a miracle can change his fortunes.
PART TWO - THE LOYAL ENGLISHMAN
Part Two sees migrant Charley (now with anglicised name), his wife and infant son, fleeing South Shields for Grimsby, where he hopes to share in the rewards of the town’s booming fishing trade. But his high ambitions are soon shattered, and he is forced to accept the rock bottom wages imposed by the cartel of federated trawler owners who control the Humber port.
Intent on playing his part as a good citizen in his adopted home, Charley stands shoulder to shoulder with fellow fishermen in their struggle for decent pay and safer working conditions. He witnesses the deterioration of relations between workers and bosses culminating in the desperate stand-off now known as the Great Grimsby Lock-out of 1901.
By 1914 the transition from Latvian peasant to loyal Englishman is complete and, as the Great War looms, Charley and his family are among the first to make sacrifices.
Both parts are available as paperback or e-books on Amazon. Under 'Books' search on 'A Donkeyman's Journey'.
PART ONE - THE LATVIAN EXILE
Part One finds young peasant woodsman Kahrl Evardson travelling to Riga, to take up an engineering apprenticeship on the docks of the Baltic capital. Mistreated by his brutal foreman Stefan Karpov, Kahrl nevertheless earns his qualification and aspires to the life of a well-paid tradesman.
His ambitions are dashed though when he is falsely accused of murder. With self-exile his only option, he signs on as a lowly welder aboard the freighter Dama Katrina, where his drudgery is lightened only by the presence of cabin maid Juhla Rachoan, with whom he falls hopelessly in love.
But realising he has nothing to offer her, in desperation he jumps ship on Tyneside, where he succumbs to a life of poverty as a half-drunken skivvy on South Shields docks. Here he sinks to such depths that it seems only a miracle can change his fortunes.
PART TWO - THE LOYAL ENGLISHMAN
Part Two sees migrant Charley (now with anglicised name), his wife and infant son, fleeing South Shields for Grimsby, where he hopes to share in the rewards of the town’s booming fishing trade. But his high ambitions are soon shattered, and he is forced to accept the rock bottom wages imposed by the cartel of federated trawler owners who control the Humber port.
Intent on playing his part as a good citizen in his adopted home, Charley stands shoulder to shoulder with fellow fishermen in their struggle for decent pay and safer working conditions. He witnesses the deterioration of relations between workers and bosses culminating in the desperate stand-off now known as the Great Grimsby Lock-out of 1901.
By 1914 the transition from Latvian peasant to loyal Englishman is complete and, as the Great War looms, Charley and his family are among the first to make sacrifices.
Both parts are available as paperback or e-books on Amazon. Under 'Books' search on 'A Donkeyman's Journey'.
