The Beach of Falesa"White men die very suddenly in Falesá." Originally censored by its British publisher, The Beach at Falesá is a scathing critique of colonialism and economic imperialism that bravely takes on many of the 19th Century’ s strongest taboos: miscegenation, imperialism, and economic exploitation. It does so with a story that features a surprising and beguiling romance between an adventurous British trader and a young island girl, against a background of increasing—and mysterious—hostility. Are the native islanders plotting against the couple, or is it the other white traders? The result is a denouement that is astonishing in its violence. Told in the unadorned voice of the trader, it is a story that deftly combines the form of the exotic adventure yarn with the moral and psychological questing of great fiction. The Art of The Novella Series Too short to be a novel, too long to be a short story, the novella is generally unrecognized by academics and publishers. Nonetheless, it is a form beloved and practiced by literature's greatest writers. In the Art Of The Novella series, Melville House celebrates this renegade art form and its practitioners with titles that are, in many instances, presented in book form for the first time. |
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Adams afraid ain't aitu all-e-same anyway asked BEACH OF FALESA began believe better Bible Black Jack boat breadfruit Buncombe Captain Randall Case's chiefs clean copra cried dark dead devil eyes face fool frightened Galoshes girl gone guess hair hand head hear heard HERMAN MELVILLE high bush island John Wiltshire Kanakas kilt kind knew knocked lantern laughed lianas looked Lotu luminous paint Maea marriage marry match melville house mighty mind missionary Namu native never night old lady Papa pastor pith helmet plain pretty priest queer ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON round savvy says seemed singing spoke STEVENSON THE BEACH stood stopped strange stuck suppose tabooed talk Tarleton tell there's thing thought Tiapolo told took trader trees trouble turned Uma's verandah Vigours village walked Wiltshire woman wood word yarn young