17 h 34 minAudiobook6 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 bottle holds a shipwrecked captain’s plea for help—but only one line of latitude points the way.
Aboard the Scottish yacht Duncan, a fishing catch brings up a sealed bottle containing three damaged notes. Lord Edward Glenarvan sets out to find the missing Captain Grant. For the captain’s children, Mary and Robert, the voyage carries a deeply personal hope: that their father is still alive.
In Jules Verne’s In Search of the Castaways, the rescuers follow their slender clue across South America, Australia, New Zealand and open seas. Jacques Paganel, a learned but absent-minded geographer, helps untangle the words. Mountains, floods and wild animals test the party, while each reading of the message shapes where they search next.
What you’ll discover
- A puzzle across continents Follow damaged words and a line on the map through a rescue full of uncertainty.
- Children with everything at stake Share Mary and Robert Grant’s hope as they join the search for their missing father.
- Knowledge with a comic touch Meet Jacques Paganel, whose learning and absent-minded ways bring geography and humour into the journey.
- Wild country underfoot Cross the Andes and the pampas, where floods and wild animals make travel dangerous.
- Loyalty put to the test Watch courage, skill and steady friendship sustain the travellers when their search grows difficult.
Who will love it
For readers who love old-fashioned adventure, maps, travel and puzzles, and anyone who wants a gentle and cheerful way into the world of Jules Verne before his better-known sea stories.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A bottle in a shark changes everything
- Two children make the rescue personal
- An absent-minded scholar boards the wrong ship
- Crossing South America by land
- The pampas bring floods, wolves and fire
- A fresh reading sends them across the ocean
- Australia and New Zealand test every skill
- Loyalty, courage and knowledge are the book's themes
- A travel puzzle built like a map
Who’s who
- Lord Edward GlenarvanA brave and generous Scottish nobleman who owns the Duncan and decides to search the world for a missing captain.
- Lady HelenaGlenarvan's kind and determined wife, who insists on joining the voyage and cares for the Grant children.
- Mary GrantThe serious and devoted elder child of Captain Grant, who hopes to find her father alive.
- Robert GrantCaptain Grant's lively young son, brave and curious, who grows in skill and confidence on the journey.
- John ManglesThe young captain of the Duncan, a skilled sailor loyal to Glenarvan and fond of Mary Grant.
- Jacques PaganelA learned but absent-minded French geographer who boards the wrong ship and stays to help solve the puzzle.
- Major MacNabbsGlenarvan's calm and dry-witted cousin, a soldier whose steady nerve helps the party in many dangers.
- ThalcaveA dignified Patagonian guide and expert tracker who becomes a faithful friend to the travellers on the plains.
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Les Enfants du capitaine Grant
by Jules Verne · 1867
A message in a bottle sends a Scottish lord around the world along one line of latitude to rescue a missing captain.
Medium level10–20 hours to readfrançais
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In short
A bottle pulled from a shark's belly sends a whole crew around the world. That is how Jules Verne opens In Search of the Castaways, his adventure novel of 1867 and 1868.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A bottle in a shark changes everything
In the summer of 1864 the steam yacht Duncan is on a trial run off Scotland. Its owner, Lord Edward Glenarvan, is generous and brave. His wife Lady Helena is on board, and so are his calm cousin Major MacNabbs and the young captain, John Mangles.
The sailors hook an enormous shark. Inside it they find a heavy bottle with three spoiled scraps of paper. The same message is written in English, French and German, and each copy is damaged in a different place.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 6 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1867
- Language
- français
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Verne, Jules. In Search of the Castaways. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/in-search-of-the-castaways.
Verne, J. (2026). In search of the castaways. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/in-search-of-the-castaways (Original work published 1867)
Verne, Jules. In Search of the Castaways. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/in-search-of-the-castaways.
@book{verne2026search,
author = {Verne, Jules},
title = {In Search of the Castaways},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/in-search-of-the-castaways},
note = {First published 1867}
}
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What is In Search of the Castaways about?
It tells of a Scottish lord who finds a message in a bottle from a lost captain and sails around the world along one line of latitude to rescue him, with the captain's two children on board.
Who is Jacques Paganel in In Search of the Castaways?
Paganel is a learned French geographer who boards the Duncan by mistake and stays to help. He is absent-minded and funny, and his knowledge of maps and languages helps solve the puzzle of the message.
Is In Search of the Castaways a true story?
No, it is fiction, first published in 1867 and 1868. Verne based the places, animals and peoples on the geography and travel writing of his day.
The author
Jules Verne
1828–1905 · French adventure novelist
Jules Verne was a French writer born in Nantes in 1828. He lived in Paris and later in Amiens, where he died in 1905. His novels include Journey to the Centre of the Earth (1864), Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea (1870), and Around the World in Eighty Days (1873).
More by Jules Verne
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