Zusammenfassung
Zusammenfassung von Salthaven
Für wen es gedacht ist
Readers who like lively dialogue, gentle comedy and matchmaking schemes that go wrong, and anyone who enjoys a seaside town full of gossips, sailors, shy suitors and a cheerful pair of young lovers.
Worum es in diesem Buch geht
Salthaven is a comic novel of 1900s English small-town life, written by W. W. Jacobs, who died in 1943. It is set in a busy harbor town, where a shipping firm, a row of cottages for retired sailors and a chief clerk's tidy garden hold a crowd of people with plans for each other. Jacobs is best remembered for humor built on talk, and here he uses it to tell a love story.
At its center are Joan Hartley, a clever and spirited girl, and Robert Vyner, the cheerful young partner in his father's firm. Around them move Captain Trimblett, a sea captain who believes in fate and cannot stop meddling, and Peter Truefitt, who cannot marry until his sister agrees to leave his house. There is also Rosa, a maid with bright yellow hair, and her large boatswain admirer. Small lies grow into larger ones, and each scheme causes three more.
You will hear how a ship-owner's pride puts a loyal clerk at risk, and how a quick, daring idea from Joan changes the lives of everyone around her. Let us begin with the office where it all starts.
In dieser Zusammenfassung
- 1A Chief Clerk Loses His RoomFree
- 2A Captain Who Believes in Fate
- 3A Spinning Chair and a Missing Father
- 4Roses, Soil and a Surprise Breakfast
- 5Rosa, the Boatswain and the Ring
- 6The Senior Partner Draws a Line
- 7Truefitt, His Sister and Captain Sellers
- 8A Wife by Another Name
- 9Fate, Gossip and the Comedy of Plans
Punkt 1 von 9
A Chief Clerk Loses His Room
The story opens at Vyner and Son, a shipping firm in Salthaven. The senior partner, Mr John Vyner, tells his chief clerk, Nathaniel Hartley, that his son Robert will soon join the business. Robert has spent three years at Cambridge and two more traveling the world to study how other nations do business. Hartley must give up his room, the one he has used for ten of his thirty-five years with the firm.
Hartley is a mild man with a loving garden and a bossy household. At home his daughter Joan has left strict orders about the maid, Rosa, and her male visitors. When voices rumble in the kitchen, Hartley coughs, rings the bell and invents excuses, and Rosa defeats him each time. He finally retreats to his flower beds, which is where he feels brave.
There a young man named Saunders arrives with a gift of dried roots that Hartley recognizes as bindweed. Saunders works for Wilson, the shipbroker, and he is clearly in love with Joan. He has taken up gardening only to have an excuse to visit her. Hartley, who suspects nothing, gives him a fork and a large patch of ground to dig while Joan is out.
The scene sets the tone for the whole book. People pursue what they want by roundabout means, and nobody says what they mean. A short, comic evening shows Hartley as a kind, anxious man who is easy to overlook. That matters, because the whole plot depends on what happens to him.
Robert Vyner, meanwhile, takes up his duties with great enthusiasm that fades within a week. He enjoys his new swivel chair and the German beer mugs he puts on the shelf, and he begins to spend his days around the docks instead. The office boy, Bassett, a serious, bespectacled youth with a vivarium of frogs and toads, stands as the opposite of everything Robert is. Their meetings, in which Robert teases and Bassett answers with perfect solemnity, give the early chapters their brightest comedy.
That’s 1 of 9 key points.
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Questions about Salthaven
What is Salthaven by W. W. Jacobs about?
It is a comic romance set in a harbor town. A shipping firm's junior partner loves his chief clerk's daughter, while a fate-minded sea captain, a deaf neighbor, a maid and a boatswain complicate everything with well-meant schemes.
Who is Captain Trimblett in Salthaven?
He is the elderly master of the steamer Indian Chief. He is kind, gloomy and sure that fate arranges everything, and he is always trying to help his friends in ways that make matters worse for himself.
When was Salthaven written and is it a true story?
It is a work of fiction by W. W. Jacobs, set in the Edwardian era. The town and characters are invented, though the details of ships, offices and cottages reflect the author's knowledge of English harbor life.
Is Salthaven easy to read?
Yes, in the sense that matters: it is built from short chapters and lively conversations. Each chapter centers on one comic scene, and the plain, dry narration makes it simple to follow aloud or on the page.
What is the main message of Salthaven?
The book shows that kindness, loyalty and nerve can beat pride and money. It also laughs gently at plans, secrets and fate, and suggests that honest feeling usually finds its way through.