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Friday 11 September 2015

Distant Lands

 “Reading gives us someplace to go when we have to stay where we are.”  
Mason Cooley

Author=© Jorge Royan|License=CC-BY-SA-3.0
Author=© Jorge Royan|License=CC-BY-SA-3.0 
Another blog post in the series looking at the books read by Henry Wilkinson whilst a prisoner of war at Stralsund.  As our nights start to draw in, maybe there is something in this group, which includes three books involving travel that takes your fancy.  It is a long held belief that books can transport us to a different place but the idea of reading about distant lands (the South Pacific is about as far removed from the Prussian coastal prison camp as you could get) whilst in captivity must have been bittersweet.

Jupiter Lights, Constance F Woolson, published 1889, read 13 July 1918
Jack Bruce left England to fight in the American Civil War where he has married and had a child.  Jack dies of yellow fever and his wife quickly remarries, to a man who likes to drink and gets violent when he does.  Jack’s sister Eva travels to South Carolina to her retrieve her nephew and take him back to England.  Eva ends up staying in America longer than planned when events take a desperate turn.
(Summarised from reviews on Good Reads and Amazon)

Avenged on Society, HF Wood, published 1893, read 14 July 1918
A satire written in a diary style in which the author inserts himself as a character – it tries to comment on society’s penchant for romanticising criminals who got away with their crimes.
(Summarised from a review in The Spectator 15 April 1893)

A Son of the Sun, Jack London, published 1912, read 16 July 1918
A book of eight short stories about Captain David Grief, a businessman with financial interests in the islands of the South Pacific.  Set at the beginning of the 20th century, the stories tell of Grief’s adventures, inspired by the authors own experiences sailing in the region. 
(Summarised from Wikipedia)

A New England Nun and Other Stories, University of South Carolina Special Collections
A New England Nun and Other Stories, University of South Carolina Special Collections
A New England Nun, ME Wilkins, published 1891, read 17 July 1918
Published in a collection of short stories by the same story, the title story is that of Louisa Ellis, a woman who has lived alone for many years and is set in her particular ways.  Fourteen years earlier, she had promised to marry Joe Daggett when he returned from seeking his fortune in Australia.  When Joe returns, Louisa finds it difficult to adapt after such a long time alone but believes a promise is a promise.  However, she finds out that Joe has developed feelings for the woman who has been looking after his mother.  Without telling him the reason, Louisa releases Joe from their engagement. 
(Summarised from Wikipedia)

Elizabeth Visits America, Elinor Glyn, published 1909, read 18 July 1918
A sequel to Glyn’s 1900 novel The Visits of Elizabeth.  The first book takes the form of the letters Elizabeth sends to her invalid mother in England whilst she travels abroad going to the grand parties of titled relatives.  Elizabeth Visits America takes the same format except that Elizabeth is visiting America with friends and they want to see the real place, ‘the American Americans we don’t meet at home’.
(Summarised from the Edwardian Promenade blog review)
This is an example of what Newcombe and Winston say in their Library Journal article that oftentimes, they might have the sequel to a book without a copy of the original. 

A Woman of No Importance, Oscar Wilde, play first performed 1893, first printed 1894, read 18 July 1918
Oscar Wilde's audacious drama of social scandal centres around the revelation of Mrs Arbuthnot's long-concealed secret. A house party is in full swing at Lady Hunstanton's country home, when it is announced that Gerald Arbuthnot has been appointed secretary to the sophisticated, witty Lord Illingworth. Gerald's mother stands in the way of his appointment, but fears to tellOscar Wilde's [play is an] audacious drama of social scandal centres on the revelation of Mrs Arbuthnot's long-concealed secret. A house party is in full swing at Lady Hunstanton's country home, when it is announced that Gerald Arbuthnot has been appointed secretary to the sophisticated, witty Lord Illingworth. Gerald's mother stands in the way of his appointment, but fears to tell him why, for who will believe Lord Illingworth to be a man of no importance?
(Synospsis from Penguin books)

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