Former Chatham Planner Publishes First Novel

July 28, 2024

by Debra Lawless

Margaret Joan Swanson, Chatham Director of Planning from 1991 to 2003, has published her debut novel, “Leaving Tristan da Cunha.”
The novel is set on one of a trio of volcanic islands in the South Atlantic Ocean. The remote island was discovered in 1506 by the Portuguese explorer who gave the island his name.
“I have read a lot of sea stories and kept coming across mentions of Tristan da Cunha,” Swanson said in an email interview last week.
She wrote a short story set on the island and then, “with the encouragement of a cousin, I decided to expand the story into a novel, which was written mostly during the pandemic,” Swanson says. “I’ve talked to people online from all over the world about Tristan and the book. There’s a lot of interest in the island’s history and its rugged terrain and remote location.”
The book is historical fiction, opening in the 1880s and running to the 1960s. For Cape Codders who enjoy reading stories of shipwrecks, this novel will be sure to satisfy. Time on the island is marked “by the ships what come and go and the wrecks what happen.” The novel’s three main characters — Henry, Lizzy and Starchy — all lost their fathers at sea in 1885.
Large portions of the novel are written in the island’s idiosyncratic dialect, what Swanson calls “Tristan slang.”
Daily life on the island, which during much of the 20th century had fewer than 200 inhabitants, is fascinating. For example, among other things the islanders eat molly mawks, “a good meaty bird,” fish and penguin eggs — “a favorite.”
During World War I the island was cut off from the larger world as shipping came to a halt and the islanders’ supplies dwindled. In World War II, in contrast, a wireless station was set up on the island.
When the Norwegians made a scientific expedition to the island in 1937-38, they brought with them a dentist. Most of the islanders were found to have perfect teeth. Prince Philip visited the island in 1957.
In October 1961 the eruption of a volcano forced the island’s inhabitants to be evacuated and sent to England where they lived until 1963, when most returned to their island home.
Swanson grew up in Upton and has a B.A. in English literature from Colby College. From an early age, she has written fiction, always, it seems, with a historic bent or with an exotic foreign setting. She now lives in Winter Haven, Fla. Her daughter, Caitlin Rafferty, a 2001 graduate of Chatham High School, illustrated the book.
“Leaving Tristan da Cunha” is available through Amazon.com.

Margaret Joan Swanson, Chatham Director of Planning from 1991 to 2003, has published her debut novel, “Leaving Tristan da Cunha.”

The novel is set on one of a trio of volcanic islands in the South Atlantic Ocean. The remote island was discovered in 1506 by the Portuguese explorer who gave the island his name.

“I have read a lot of sea stories and kept coming across mentions of Tristan da Cunha,” Swanson said in an email interview last week.

She wrote a short story set on the island and then, “with the encouragement of a cousin, I decided to expand the story into a novel, which was written mostly during the pandemic,” Swanson says. “I’ve talked to people online from all over the world about Tristan and the book. There’s a lot of interest in the island’s history and its rugged terrain and remote location.”

The book is historical fiction, opening in the 1880s and running to the 1960s. For Cape Codders who enjoy reading stories of shipwrecks, this novel will be sure to satisfy. Time on the island is marked “by the ships what come and go and the wrecks what happen.” The novel’s three main characters — Henry, Lizzy and Starchy — all lost their fathers at sea in 1885.

Large portions of the novel are written in the island’s idiosyncratic dialect, what Swanson calls “Tristan slang.”

Daily life on the island, which during much of the 20th century had fewer than 200 inhabitants, is fascinating. For example, among other things the islanders eat molly mawks, “a good meaty bird,” fish and penguin eggs — “a favorite.”

During World War I the island was cut off from the larger world as shipping came to a halt and the islanders’ supplies dwindled. In World War II, in contrast, a wireless station was set up on the island.

When the Norwegians made a scientific expedition to the island in 1937-38, they brought with them a dentist. Most of the islanders were found to have perfect teeth. Prince Philip visited the island in 1957.

In October 1961 the eruption of a volcano forced the island’s inhabitants to be evacuated and sent to England where they lived until 1963, when most returned to their island home.

Swanson grew up in Upton and has a B.A. in English literature from Colby College. From an early age, she has written fiction, always, it seems, with a historic bent or with an exotic foreign setting. She now lives in Winter Haven, Fla. Her daughter, Caitlin Rafferty, a 2001 graduate of Chatham High School, illustrated the book.

“Leaving Tristan da Cunha” is available through Amazon.com.