The Good Companion is a successful fishing boat whose captain takes no chances with the luck of his vessel. Everything is arranged according to tradition. The same meals are served in the same order every voyage. No black suitcases, cats, or women are allowed on board. This changes one night when a mysterious red-haired girl is discovered in a leaking punt. The captain rescues the girl with great reluctance. She won’t talk about her past, but fits in well with the crew and the ship’s luck is not disrupted. Nevertheless, the captain remains suspicious of her and puts her ashore at the end of the voyage, even though the crew would willingly have kept her on. More than a year later, the ship flounders in a storm. Just when everything seems lost, the captain sees a vision of the red-haired girl on the deck in front of him. As he rushes out into the storm to save her she vanishes and the ship rights itself just in time to keep from sinking.

Joan Skogan knows the British Columbia deep sea fishery well, and this knowledge enlivens her story. Details of life at sea and the customs and beliefs of fishermen are skillfully woven into this book. Stephen McCallum’s watercolours suit the story. It is difficult to create interesting illustrations that are predominantly grey, but he succeeds admirably. The book is recommended for children four to eight, but the plot is open-ended and the mystery of the girl is never resolved. Most younger children like a story to be clearly comprehensible. For this reason, the book may find its true audience with children eight and up. Even among this group, the plot may prove hard to grasp. Because the author has chosen to leave the mystery unexplained, many readers may close this book feeling more lost than satisfied.