Monday 26 September 2011

A World Elsewhere

Finished September 26
A World Elsewhere by Wayne Johnston
Read this one in less than a day in two sittings. Wonderful story that kept surprising me.
Set in the late nineteenth century, Landish, a young man from Newfoundland is at Princeton. He is approached for friendship by an extremely wealthy young man, Van, and it changes his life. The two become inseparable at Princeton until one betrays the other.
Landish returns to Newfoundland and refuses to follow in his father's footsteps as a sealing captain, wanting to be a writer instead. He is disowned and shortly thereafter convinced to take on a young boy, who was orphaned as a result of Landish's father's actions. The boy Deacon and Landish struggle to survive, but things become more and more precarious for them. When Van offers them a way out it seems at first an escape, but their new life is as much a difficult one as their early life together was.
A tale of jealousy, friendship, and love, this story resonates with life.

2 comments:

  1. I absolutely loved the wordplay in this novel, which made the relationship between Landish and Deacon that much more believable for me.

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  2. Yes, he is really great with words.

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