The cruise of the Nona: The story of a cruise from Holyhead to the Wash, with reflections and judgments on life and letters, men and manners

About this book

The work is a loosely structured travel memoir that uses a single sailing outing as a framework for a series of reflections on life, literature, and the quirks of human nature. It opens with a rambling dedication in which the author, Hilaire Belloc, muses over the difficulty of naming a book, catalogues fanciful baby‑name proposals, and likens his forthcoming narrative to a river without banks. After this extended preamble he finally introduces the titular vessel, the cutter Nona, and describes the moment she is taken out of Holyhead harbour on a warm, moonless night, the tide and a faint breeze guiding the craft toward the strait of Bardsey Sound. The opening therefore establishes a tone of wandering thought, anchored to a concrete nautical episode that will carry the reader through the English coast.

Belloc’s voice is witty, erudite, and deliberately digressive, characteristic of early‑20th‑century English essayists who blend personal anecdote with cultural commentary. The prose is peppered with classical allusions, playful language, and a self‑aware, conversational tone that rewards readers who enjoy intellectual humor and a meandering, almost essay‑like structure. Those who appreciate travel writing that doubles as a philosophical sketchbook, particularly fans of Belloc’s satirical style and of voyages that serve as metaphors for the human condition, will find this book engaging.

Opening lines

I now dedicate to you this book, because you also have written a book upon Things That Come to Mind, and this book may well turn into something of the same sort. Yours was called ‘The Puppet Show of Memory,’ and dealt with the things and people you had seen and known. What mine will be called I do not yet know, for I hold that a child should be born before it is christened. …

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