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Audiobook edition · 15 h 13 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if sun, wine and charming company make your firmest beliefs feel negotiable?
Bishop Thomas Heard arrives on Nepenthe expecting a quiet visit with relatives. Earnest and used to being heard, he finds this imaginary Mediterranean island full of people who question his certainties. In Norman Douglas's comic novel South Wind, even a pleasant conversation can loosen a rule he takes for granted.
Among the island's residents is Mr Keith, a learned, wickedly amusing Englishman who treats pleasure and tolerance as good sense. Count Caloveglia cherishes Nepenthe's ancient past, while visitors and residents trade arguments, gossip and schemes. There is little conventional plot: the pull lies in watching a place quietly change what people think is right.
What you’ll discover
- A bishop off balance Follow Heard as warm company and bold arguments put his settled beliefs under pressure.
- The pleasure of talk Enjoy long, witty conversations where learned ideas meet a frank view of human habits.
- An island with memory Explore Nepenthe's strange past through residents who keep its history close to daily life.
- Standards slowly shifting Watch moral drift unfold through small changes rather than one clear, deliberate choice.
- A clever host's company An easy, ironic narrator guides you among eccentrics, seekers and schemers with sharp portraits.
Who will love it
For readers who love talk, wit and Mediterranean atmosphere, and anyone curious about how a place can change a person. Pleasure, belief and moral certainties meet in the company of eccentrics, schemers and seekers.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A bishop lands on Nepenthe
- Mr Keith teaches the art of living
- A crowd of odd characters gathers
- The island holds old stories beneath its charm
- Moral drift is the real subject
- Talk, wit and place carry the telling
Who’s who
- Bishop Thomas HeardAn earnest English bishop from Africa who visits the island expecting a quiet stay and finds his firm beliefs questioned.
- Mr KeithAn elderly Englishman settled on the island, learned and witty, who treats pleasure and tolerance as matters of good sense.
- Count CalovegliaA dignified old local gentleman who loves the island's ancient past and carries its long memory.
- Don FrancescoA priest of the island whose faith is warm, practical and close to the daily life of the people.
- Van KoppenA rich American visitor whose money and brisk outlook contrast with the island's slow ways.
- Mr EamesA scholarly resident with a keen interest in the island's history and in its saint, Saint Dodekanus.
- Mr MuhlenA member of the island's foreign set, caught up in its gossip, schemes and secrets.
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- Audiobook
- 15 h 13 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 8 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- 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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Vent du sud
by Norman Douglas · 1917
On Nepenthe, an English bishop finds his certainties tested by sun, wine and charming company.
Medium level10–20 hours to read25 languages
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In short
South Wind is a comic novel by Norman Douglas, published in 1917. It is set on Nepenthe, an imaginary island in the Mediterranean, shaped by Douglas's long years of life on and around the Bay of Naples and Capri.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A bishop lands on Nepenthe
The story opens with the arrival of Thomas Heard, an English bishop who has spent his working life in Africa as Bishop of Bampopo. He is decent, earnest and used to being listened to. He has come to Nepenthe to visit his relatives, and he expects a short, quiet stay in a pleasant corner of Europe.
The island does not feel quiet for long. From the first hours, Heard meets people who talk about morals and manners in ways he has never heard at home. Nobody seems shocked by anything, and nobody seems in a hurry. The weather helps. The south wind, called the scirocco, hangs over the place and makes everyone a little lazy, a little frank and a little more forgiving of themselves.
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What is South Wind about?
It is a comic novel about an English bishop who visits the imaginary Mediterranean island of Nepenthe and meets a set of witty, unconventional residents. Their talk and the island's mood challenge his fixed ideas about morals and pleasure.
Where is Nepenthe in South Wind?
Nepenthe is an invented island in the Mediterranean. Douglas based it largely on Capri and the Bay of Naples, where he lived for years. Its name comes from a Greek word for a drug that banishes sorrow.
Who is Mr Keith in South Wind?
Mr Keith is an elderly, cultivated Englishman who has settled on Nepenthe. He is witty and tolerant, and he acts as a kind of guide to Bishop Heard, talking with him about pleasure, belief and how to live.
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