The Matapan Affair by Fortuné du Boisgobey
Price: $2.85
ePublished by
September 2023
Originally published April 6 & 13, 1882
Dime novel, fiction, French lit.
Author: Fortuné du Boisgobey
Translator: Laura E. Kendall
ePublished by
September 2023
Originally published April 6 & 13, 1882
Dime novel, fiction, French lit.
Author: Fortuné du Boisgobey
Translator: Laura E. Kendall
Published originally in 1881 as L’Affaire Matapan, this English translation was issue No. 1241 of The Seaside Library series published by George Munro in New York. Being too large for one edition, the novel was published on two dates one week apart, the first half on April 6, 1882, and the second half on April 13, 1882, both labeled as No. 1241.
The story of a retired pirate operating as a landlord in the Paris of 1880 is quintessentially French, with stilted, snobbish members of the nobility who are often so irritating the reader will be tempted to root for the bad guys. But patience is rewarded: there are some good ones, too, amongst that nobility, and in the end the story is entertaining and provides the reader with a satisfying ending wherein virtue triumphs over evil and true love does not remain frustrated.
What more can one ask?
The story of a retired pirate operating as a landlord in the Paris of 1880 is quintessentially French, with stilted, snobbish members of the nobility who are often so irritating the reader will be tempted to root for the bad guys. But patience is rewarded: there are some good ones, too, amongst that nobility, and in the end the story is entertaining and provides the reader with a satisfying ending wherein virtue triumphs over evil and true love does not remain frustrated.
What more can one ask?