Baillie, Allan: Krakatoa Lighthouse.

** BAILLIE, Allan Krakatoa Lighthouse Puffin, 2009 254pp $17.95 pbk ISBN 9780143303596 SCIS 1400633

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

The volcanic eruption and destruction on 27 August 1883 of the island of Krakatoa in the Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra in Indonesia was a cataclysmic disaster for the whole surrounding region. The author made a trip to the present day island Anak Krakatoa and, visiting the nearby town of Anyer (Anjer in earlier times), he investigated the history of the disaster from contemporary and recent sources. Anjer was in 1883 in the Dutch East Indies and was a cosmopolitan township with a Chinese quarter, a mosque, a busy harbour, a Dutch quarter for the town's officials, as well as a kampong for the native Javanese. On Fourth Point was a sturdy lighthouse, the setting of this novel.

Kerta is a sturdy, resourceful Javanese boy, son of the lighthouse keeper, and through his eyes we see the passing parade of events over several months of 1883. He is highly respected for his abilities and is able twice to accompany parties to the island of Krakatoa where he experiences the stages in the development of the eruption, the smoking craters, the showers of ash and pumice, the early explosions and rumbles and the final great explosion. In the end we learn he survived the worst of the disaster with its huge waves wiping out Anjer and most of its inhabitants as he is able to put together a light from the remains of the mined lighthouse for the ships floundering through the massive ashladen smoky pall hanging over the Strait and cry out defiantly 'We're still here'. (History tells us there was such a light and there were survivors picked up, so ...)

This is a powerfully evocative tale, and will leave much in the mind of readers. There are maps and a plan of the town, and background geological and historical information. This book is well recommended for ages 8 to 15 but indeed for all ages. JDA

** Book by an Australian author or illustrator