The characters in Offshore are all friendly with each other, with good inter-boat relationships; which is fortunate, as they are all just a little odd….

Their interwoven story is slight. What is memorable about it is the delicacy and wit with which Mrs Fitzgerald handles their dilemmas and mild adventures. We see most of Nenna, whose very inadequacy is endearing…. But by far the best bits of the book are those dealing with Nenna's two children, Tilda and Martha, who are of an astonishing precocity and as resourceful as their mother is not…. The scene in which they sell two de Morgan tiles to a dealer is a delight, and the perfect model of How to be Successful in Antiques. They, and the boat-cat Stripey, with her propensity for mud and for getting chased by rats, remain with one when the other characters have faded.

A delicate water-colour...