Böcker av W. Clark Russell

Cuthbert Shaw and Jenny Strangfield are secretly in love. His father is a dogmatic schoolmaster, hers a severe Baptist preacher, harsh stalwarts of their small town on the Kent coast. But so convinced are Cuthbert and Jenny of their rightness for one another that they have slipped off separately to London on false pretences, and married there. Back in Greystone, they must keep up their secret until they can summon the courage to speak to their respective despotic parents. Finally, Cuthbert determines he can wait no longer, and makes a plan with Jenny to deliver the no doubt shocking news, to her father first, one evening.But this is 1806, and pressgangs prowl British seaside places, compelling young men into the service of the navy, to fight Napoleon's forces. As he makes his way to Jenny's home for the critical conversation, Cuthbert is taken, and disappears overnight. Jenny, unaware, waits and waits on tenterhooks. But, of course, Cuthbert never comes. Heartbroken, thinking he may have abandoned her, Jenny despairs, and reveals their secret. But she is not believed - the story appears unfeasible, and seems a cover for shame. Her father is incandescent, and Cuthbert's outraged. How will gentle Cuthbert fare aboard ship, heading into battle? How will Jenny survive the vicious innuendo of the Greystone townspeople, let alone own father's savage accusations of bad character? Will Cuthbert ever return to her, or is he lost forever?W. Clark Russell followed several extremely popular seafaring tales with this elegantly written novel in 1878, proving that he was much more than a novelist of adventure. The extraordinarily poetic prose and rich imagination of Auld Lang Syne confirmed that here was a writer with more than one string to his bow.

After serving for 8 years in the United Kingdom's Merchant Navy, W. Clark Russell turned to writing and is now well known for his novels revolving around life at sea. The Ship-Her Story is one of his later works and was republished in 1899 with the permission of the proprietor of the Pall Mall Magazine. The book is full of anecdotes about important historical ships ranging from the Flying Dutchman to The Confederate Cruiser 'Alabama" and features delightful penciled drawings by Seppings Wright. Informational and sometimes humorous, The Ship-Her Story is a lively ode to what Russell calls "the most beautiful and sentient expression of the handiwork of man-- the sailing-ship."

In 1827 youthful, vigorous John Holdsworth, newly married to his sweetheart Dolly, leaves the village of Southbourne in Kent for his next adventure at sea on board the Meteor, bound for America. He is young to be a chief mate, but all the crew, and his superiors, are impressed with his skill, knowledge and strong, kind leadership. But well out into the Atlantic disaster strikes unexpectedly and the ship founders. The three boats are launched and capable John takes charge of one of them, containing seven people. Ten long days later, John's boat is finally spotted. Of the two remaining on board, the only one alive is John. What he has been through has changed him completely; having had no food and water for many days, and having witnessed unspeakable horrors of searing privation, he is wizened, sunken, white-haired, virtually crippled - and barely alive. Crucially, he has been so near to death that his memory is completely gone. He is taken to Australia on board the vessel of his rescuers with no idea of his name, the name of his ship, or any clue as to his connections. It is as though his mind has sealed off the past. After five years under an assumed name as a clerk in a Sydney company, something tells him that he needs to return to England. There, in 1832, a chance meeting in a London tavern triggers a tiny rush of recognition. He starts out for Kent, little realizing what a moving train of events his regaining of memory will set in motion... First published in 1875.

This gripping saga of the sea follows the disastrous voyage of the Grosvenor of the British Mercantile Marine. The ship is bound for Valparaiso, and aboard are a brutal and inhumane captain and chief mate. The ship's second mate is our hero.