5 h 47 minAudiobook2 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
A pearl promises a family a home, but who gets to decide what their treasure is worth?
In South Sea Tales, Jack London gathers eight adventures across a Pacific shaped by storms, trade, and colonial power. In The House of Mapuhi, an islander wants a house for his family in exchange for a valuable pearl. The traders have other ideas. In The Whale Tooth, a missionary in Fiji faces a dangerous meeting of religious conviction and local custom.
Mauki follows an islander through the brutality of plantation labor, while The Heathen centers on Otoo and a white trader whose friendship begins in disaster. The Terrible Solomons and The Inevitable White Man challenge assumptions of white superiority. In The Seed of McCoy, burning cargo threatens a ship, and a calm guide brings knowledge that courage alone cannot supply.
What you’ll discover
- A pearl with stakes Follow Mapuhi’s hope for a family home into a struggle over value and power.
- Loyalty born of danger Meet Otoo, whose intelligence and practical courage give a lasting friendship its strength.
- The cost of command See how trade, weapons, and forced labor shape encounters between island communities and outsiders.
- Confidence meets its limits Watch claims of superiority collide with dangers that demand understanding rather than boasts.
- Judgment under pressure Step aboard a threatened ship where McCoy’s steady guidance matters as much as endurance.
Who will love it
For readers who love sea adventures, sharply drawn loyalties, and an unsettling view of trade and colonial power, with storms and dangerous encounters testing courage and judgment.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
Who’s who
- MapuhiAn islander hopes to exchange a valuable pearl for a house for his family.
- MaukiAn islander faces coercion and brutality within the Pacific plantation labor system.
- OtooThe central islander in The Heathen proves his worth through intelligence, loyalty, and practical courage.
- McCoyA calm island guide helps a threatened ship through an emergency at sea.
- Colonial powerTrade, forced labor, weapons, and racial assumptions shape encounters between island communities and outsiders.
- Survival at seaStorms and shipboard dangers test judgment as well as physical endurance.
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- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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Contes des mers du Sud
by Jack London · 1911
Mapuhi hopes to trade a valuable pearl for a house for his family in a Pacific shaped by trade and colonial power.
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From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 6
The Pacific in South Sea Tales is both a working world and a place of sudden danger. Traders bargain over valuable goods, sailors depend on unfamiliar shores, and island communities face outsiders who arrive with money, weapons, and claims to authority. London moves between physical adventures and conflicts in which power matters as much as strength.
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What stories are in South Sea Tales?
The eight stories are The House of Mapuhi, The Whale Tooth, Mauki, Yah! Yah! Yah!, The Heathen, The Terrible Solomons, The Inevitable White Man, and The Seed of McCoy. They range from pearl trading and plantation brutality to friendship, missionary encounters, and emergencies at sea.
Is South Sea Tales based on Jack London’s travels?
London’s Pacific voyage aboard the Snark helped supply the settings and experiences behind South Sea Tales, published in 1911. These are fictional stories, not a continuous travel diary, but their trading posts, ships, islands, and labor systems draw on the world he encountered.
What is The Heathen about?
The Heathen follows the friendship between a white trader and Otoo, an islander he meets after a maritime disaster. Otoo’s judgment and devotion challenge the dismissive label in the title, making the story as much about dependence and loyalty as about adventure.
The author
Jack London
1876–1916 · American novelist and journalist
Jack London (1876–1916) was an American author, journalist and social activist. He was born in San Francisco and lived in California. He wrote novels, short stories and essays. His novels include The Call of the Wild (1903), The Sea-Wolf (1904), White Fang (1906) and Martin Eden (1909). He died in California.
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