Published: June 07, 2011
Words: 103673 (approximate)
Language: English

Short description

Shipwrecked on an unknown shore, their greatest peril came from within.

Extended description

June 1629. Laden with treasure and the riches of Europe, the merchantman Batavia, flagship of the Dutch East India Company, sails on her maiden voyage from Amsterdam bound for the East Indies. But thirty miles off the coast of Terra Incognita Australis—the unknown south land—she smashes into an uncharted reef.

The survivors—women and children, sailors, soldiers and merchants—are washed ashore on a pair of uninhabited, hostile islands, with little food or fresh water. Desperately seeking help, the ship's officers set out in an open boat to make a two-thousand-mile journey to the nearest trading post.

While they are gone, from the struggle for survival on the islands, there emerges a tyrant whose brutal lust for power is even deadlier than the reef which wrecked the Batavia.

Tags

fiction, drama, murder, justice, historical, stranded, island, survival, exploration, commerce, greed, shipwreck, tall ships, reef, batavia, east indies

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Reviews

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Review by: Bob Studholme on April 07, 2012 :
Beautifully realised account of a true story.
The story of the wreak of the Dutch ship, the Batavia, is a true one. Ms Van de Rol has clearly researched not only widely, but very well to be able to retell it as she does. It's not just that the clothing and equipment used are correct, but that the atitudes of the people are of their time. Social differences are so important as to be defining, torture is regarded as a way to the truth, the fact that one of the main characters does not believe in Hell makes his actions just to himself and (in a way) comprehensible to his fellows - he was clearly in a pact with the devil that he didn't believe in.
The characters in the book are skillfully writtten and brilliantly concieved. Each one is consistently themselves, so, while they only do what they (historically) did, their motivations for their actions convince. All of fully rounded, with a full ration of human contradiction, though. The villain, Cornelisz, is a cold-blooded manipulator, who never kills another, but has no trouble in getting others to do it for him. He insists on seducing the Lady Lucretia rather than forcing her, however. She, in turn, beds with him to save her life, but suffers guilt over the fact that his love making stirs her more than her husband's ever did.
Every part of this book worked for me perfectly, especially the ending, which is Ms Van de Rol's own convincing speculation on events which history does not record.
(reviewed within a month of purchase)

Review by: Fred Limberg on Aug. 20, 2011 :
If you are looking for a feel good novel or a Robinson Crusoe-esque survival story do not read TO DIE A DRY DEATH by Greta van der Rol.

The book is a novelization of the tragic and brief history of the Batavia and its first voyage which ended on a series of desolate uncharted islands after running aground on a reef in the 1600s.

Ms. van der Rol, to me, captured not only the feel and essence of the times in her historically accurate recounting of—not only the shipwreck and the horrors faced by the survivors, but also the individual intrigues. Her well drawn out (and often horrifying) period-influenced personalities contributed to and teased out believable motives for what occurred.

‘What occurred’ needs repeating.

I give TO DIE A DRY DEATH four stars. The book made me uncomfortable throughout the reading, but kept me engaged. It toyed with my emotions as I tried to identify with and root for someone to overcome the horrors that occurred on the islands, often to find their actions and motivations at odds with my 21st Century sensibilities.

Well done, Ms. van der Rol.

Fred Limberg
(reviewed within a week of purchase)

Review by: Kimberly Maloney on June 24, 2011 :
I received this novel as a review copy from the author in order to read and review on my blog:
http://historicalfictionobsession.blogspot.com

My Review:

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. It is well written and extremely well researched. I couldn’t imagine writing a novel such as this one, which uses so many different nautical terms as well as incorporates so much history dealing with the shipping trade. van der Rol also does a great job in examining the “good” and “evil” side of man.

To Die a Dry Death is a true adventure story, full of ups and downs, good and evil, and even a couple of pretty sexy love scenes! It makes me draw comparisons between the similar situation in this book and Lord of the Flies by William Golding. A group of people are trapped together on an island and forced to find the means to survive, and eventually this brings about man’s innate savage nature. It is especially interesting considering that this story is based on a true events.

Cornelisz, the leader of the people on the island they are stranded on, Batavia’s Graveyard, is an intelligent, sophisticated man. Faced with 140 people on an island without enough water or food, he chooses to forget his civilized roots and decides that survival of the fittest is right choice for the shipwrecked people. Cornelisz justifies his deeds by saying, “We had not enough supplies for all. Is it best that we all must suffer and die? Should we not try to ensure that some will survive? Those strongest, fittest?” When looking at it that way, you might think he is right, however the way he went about ensuring that the “fittest” would survive was not what a civilized person might consider “right.”

It seems that the men in this novel were much quicker and happier to return to their savage roots than the boys in Lord of the Flies. It took a little while for the boys to reach the point where they could kill without regret, but the men in To Die a Dry Death were soldiers and sailors for the most part, and they had already been exposed to death and savagery during their lifetime. This made it easier for them to kill, plus the idea of “mob behavior,” where it is easier for people as a group to kill or destroy, because they become anonymous within a group, and this allows them to disassociate themselves from their behavior. I think this would be a great book for a college class to read and study. A college class could really get into a book like this, and explore its deeper meaning and even do a comparison to Lord of the Flies. I think it would make for a great movie!

The names were a little hard for me to follow at times, mostly because they are foreign to me. I really liked Captain Adriaen Jacobz at the beginning of the book, and I was a little confused when he was incarcerated, and nothing was said about his situation again until the very end. In reality, it is not known what happened to Captain Jacobz, but the author included a little bit about him in the conclusion of the book in order to add a little hope to his story. Wiebbe Hayes is another character that I really enjoyed in this book. He ended up being a hero and also became one of the characters that seemed to show the "good" side of man. I think a lot of the characters represented either the good vs. evil aspect of humans.

Another character that would be extremely interesting to dissect is Pelsaert. At times he seems to be the 'good' guy who wants to save the people left on the island, but at other times it’s obvious that all he cares about is saving face in front of the shipping company he works for and finding the treasure and money that were shipwrecked. It’s obvious by the end of the book that he cares only for himself and the merchandise he is trying to recover; when a group of sailors (including Sardam’s Captain) are lost along with the best boat for pulling up the barrels while they are looking for merchandise, Palsaert says, “God grant the boat return soon.”

I love that the characters are based on people who really had been on this shipwreck. Greta van der Rol did an excellent job of using creative license with the characters to really bring them alive for the reader.

I am so glad that the author asked me to read and review this novel. I learned so much, and had a hard time putting the book down at times. The names confused me a little bit, and having a Captain Jacobsz and a Captain Jacopsz REALLY confused me, but once I had a handle on the names I was good and reading was smooth. I would 100% recommend this novel to any of my readers. I am impressed with everything about this book, and the fact that it is Historical Fiction makes is pretty much near perfect for me!

This novel definitely deserves 5 out of 5 Stars!
(reviewed within a month of purchase)

Review by: Heikki Hietala on June 09, 2011 :
[disclaimer - I am from the same publisher, PfoxChase, as Greta van der Rol, but I read this book as if I had picked it up at a bookstore. If you find this troubling, don't read on.]

Die a Dry Death charts the wreck and subsequent events of the Dutch merchant ship Batavia on its way to the Dutch East Indies in 1629. I for one had no idea of such a vast tragedy ensuing after one of the survivors took command of the refugees and started murdering them systematically.

The book has a wide cast of characters, but I would like to pull out two that have been crafted with extraordinary clarity and skill: a lady of high ranking, Lucretia van der Mijlen, who has to walk the tightrope between life and death, and Jeronimus Cornelisz, the homicidal employee of the Company, who slips into the dark side when he gains control of the islands on which the refugees live.

This could be a book of numbing detail and side stories aplenty, but it isn't. Greta van der Rol has done an outstanding job keeping the stories apace, and tightly reined in so as to keep the central story going. As you read this book, you'll see how you get attracted to it and want to keep reading as you hope for the best for the poor souls on the desolate islands... and yet you know it is not necessarily going to go that way.

I recommend this book to any historical fiction fan, and to all friends of books based on real life and given an extra dimension through fiction.
(reviewed the day of purchase)

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