Resumen
Resumen de Negro es blanco
Para quién es
Readers who enjoy a grand old household full of secrets, a mysterious bride, a touch of Eastern magic and a family drama with real emotional stakes will feel at home in these pages.
De qué trata este libro
Black Is White is a novel by George Barr McCutcheon, the American writer who also gave readers Graustark and Brewster's Millions. It opens in a Fifth Avenue mansion in New York on a stormy December night, with a message that has crossed the Atlantic by wireless. The man who sent it is James Brood, a rich traveler who has spent years chasing danger in the far corners of the world.
His news is short and startling. He has married in Paris, and he is bringing the bride home. What follows is part family drama, part love triangle and part mystery. A cold father, a lonely son, a loyal young woman, two old adventurers and a silent Indian servant all find their lives rearranged by one dark-eyed woman whose reasons nobody can read.
In this summary you follow the book scene by scene, right up to the edge of its great crisis. You meet each person, learn what each one wants, and see how the author builds charm, suspicion and dread. You also see how music, storms and a watchful servant shape the mood. Let us begin with the night the blue envelope arrives.
En este resumen
- 1A wireless message shakes a householdFree
- 2Frederic finds warmth with the Desmonds
- 3The bride arrives and charms them all
- 4A new mistress rearranges the house
- 5The old men grumble while Frederic boils
- 6Dreams betray Brood's old love
- 7Lydia hears the secret and a storm breaks
- 8Doubts return with the daylight
- 9Love, doubt and the voice of the past
Idea clave 1 de 9
A wireless message shakes a household
The story begins in a library on lower Fifth Avenue on a bleak December night. Two old men, Danbury Dawes and Joseph Riggs, sit by the fire and stare at a blue envelope on the table. It holds a wireless message from James Brood, the master of the house, who is somewhere out on the Atlantic. Neither man has ever seen such a thing, and neither will go to bed until it is opened.
They have good reason to care. Twenty years earlier they found Brood in the worst corners of Calcutta, a ruined man wasted by drink and grief, and they pulled him back to life. With a third friend, John Desmond, they followed him through jungles, deserts and the Himalayas, and more than once they saved him from death. Now his money keeps them safe and comfortable in his home.
While they wait, the two old men empty a decanter of port, quarrel over whose watch is right, and decide that Brood must be sinking in the sea. When the butler, Jones, tries to send them to bed, they answer with speeches about a relief expedition. The scene is comic, but it also shows how fiercely these two rough old soldiers love their friend.
At last Frederic Brood, the master's twenty-two-year-old son, comes home. He reads the message, curses under his breath, and throws it into the fire without a word to anyone. The old men are left with nothing but bruised feelings and a great deal of curiosity. The reader, too, is kept waiting to learn what the message said.
Behind the scene lies an old wound. Years ago Brood believed his beautiful Austrian wife had betrayed him with a handsome music teacher who played the harp, and he drove her out of the house. He kept her baby boy, doubting the child was his own. The boy grew up lonely and watched, and he never found any love in the man he was taught to call father.
That’s 1 of 9 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Questions about Negro es blanco
What is Black Is White by George Barr McCutcheon about?
It tells of James Brood, a rich New York traveler who marries a mysterious Frenchwoman and brings her home to his son, his old friends and a household full of secrets. The book mixes family drama, romance and mystery.
Who is Ranjab in Black Is White?
Ranjab is Brood's Hindu servant, a silent man rescued by Brood and his friends in India. He performs magic tricks and seems to know what others are thinking, which makes him both loyal and unsettling.
Who are Dawes and Riggs?
Danbury Dawes and Joseph Riggs are two elderly American adventurers who saved James Brood's life in Calcutta and now live in his house. They supply the book's humor and a great deal of loyalty.
Is Black Is White a true story, and when was it written?
It is a work of fiction. McCutcheon set it in modern New York of the early twentieth century, with wireless messages and ocean liners, and drew on the popular taste for exotic adventure and family secrets.
Is Black Is White easy to read?
Yes, it moves briskly. Chapters are short, the dialogue is lively, and each scene ends with a question, so the story is easy to follow and keeps you reading.