After a terrible hurricane levels their Jam aican estate, the Bas-Thorntons decide to send their children back to the safety and comfort of England. On the way their ship is set upon by pirates, and the children are accidentally transferred to the pirate vessel. Jonsen, the well-meaning pirate c aptain, doesn't know how to dispose of his new cargo, while the children adjust with surprising ease to their new life. As this strange company drifts around the Caribbean, events turn more frightening, and the pirates find themselves increasing ly incriminated by the children's fates. The most shocking betrayal, however, will o nly take place after the return to civilization.

The swift, almost hallucinatory action of Hughes's novel, together with its provocat ive insight into the psychology of children, made it a bestseller when it was first published in 1929 and have since established it as a classic of twentieth-century li terature--an unequalled exploration of the nature, and limits, of innocence.

One of the Modern Library's 100 Best Novels of the Twentieth Century

理查德・休斯（1900-1976），英国著名剧作家、诗人和小说家。曾先后就读于伦敦查特豪斯公学和牛津大学欧瑞尔学院。早在牛津读书期间，休斯便出版了诗集《流浪的夜晚和此前的诗》。毕业后，休斯担任英国威尔士国家歌剧团团长，并创作了著名广播剧《冒险》。 1926年，理查德・休斯出版小说处女作《牙买加飓风》，立即风行英美，成为超级畅销书。同年，休斯以此书赢得法国费米娜文学奖，奠定了本书作为现代文学经典的基础。此后，休斯又创作了《大海上的男人》、《人类的困境》和《困惑的少年》等著名作品。