With Hearts Courageous

Title: WITH HEARTS COURAGEOUS
Author: Jon Steven Nappa
Publisher: Storm Warriors International
November 2009
ISBN: 978-0-615-32395-4
Genre: Inspirational/historical


Sir William Hillary looked out the window at a group of fishmen gathering on the sea. He hoped they weren’t there to ogle some sea creature, but he went down to the beach anyway to see what was going on. There he discovered that not only had the lifeboat had washed away, but the only lighthouse in the area had been destroyed.

Sir William is initially undisturbed. After all, the lifeboat has been there for years, virtually unused. But the fishermen are deeply concerned. But Sir William doesn’t know how to fix this situation. It will take serious events for Sir William to take action and be willing to risk every thing to answer his call.

WITH HEARTS COURAGEOUS is the second book in Mr. Nappa’s series focused on rescue at sea. I didn’t read the first book in the series, but that didn’t seem to matter much in the reading of this book. I was thinking this book would be more about the Coast Guard and rescues than a historical set pre-Revolutionary war—but I guess that is my fault for not reading the description very well.

WITH HEARTS COURAGEOUS focuses on the founding days of the Royal National Lifeboat Association founded by Sir William Hillary, and is based on a true story, taking the reader from the founding days of rescue missions in small rowboats to the eventual founding of the National Society for the Preservation of Life after Shipwreck which remains active today (even though the name has been changed to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.

The book does begin very slowly, but if you stick with it the action picks up considerably. Discussion questions and an interview with the author are included at the end of the book. $16.95. 330 pages.