13 h 44 minAudiobook4 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
What if your gentle, ordinary father believes he is an ancient king—and wants the world to recognize him?
Albert Edward Preemby has little money, little standing, and few people who take him seriously. In the London of the 1920s, this mild man comes to believe he is the reincarnation of Sargon, King of Kings. His claim to greatness unsettles a world that sees him as small.
His daughter, Christina Alberta, wants her own freedom, but she also wants to protect the father she loves. In Christina Alberta's Father, H. G. Wells brings warmth and wit to their difficult bond. Around them, respectable people defend their own beliefs about class, money, and proper behavior—with rather less scrutiny.
What you’ll discover
- An unlikely king Meet a gentle Londoner whose extraordinary belief gives new force to his wish for dignity.
- A daughter seeking freedom Follow Christina Alberta as independence and love pull her in different directions.
- Respectability under scrutiny See Wells question the comfortable assumptions that decide who counts as sensible or foolish.
- Humor with a heart Enjoy light, conversational storytelling that finds small ironies without losing affection for its characters.
- The puzzle of identity Explore what happens when a person's sense of self meets other people's refusal to accept it.
Who will love it
For readers who love English social comedy, warm family stories with a gentle edge, and Wells in a lighter mood than his science fiction. It also welcomes anyone drawn to questions of identity, belief and the bond between a father and daughter.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A small man with a very large belief
- A daughter who sees the world clearly
- Society sorts people into boxes
- How Wells tells it
Who’s who
- Albert Edward PreembyA modest, gentle Londoner who believes he is the reincarnation of Sargon, King of Kings, and wants his dignity recognized.
- Christina AlbertaPreemby's spirited, modern daughter, who wants her own freedom and still wants to protect the father she loves.
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Christina Alberta's Father
by H. G. Wells · 1925
An ordinary Londoner believes he is an ancient king, while his daughter weighs her freedom against protecting him.
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From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 4
A small man with a very large belief
The story begins with Albert Edward Preemby, an unremarkable man living a modest life in suburban London. He has little money, little standing and few people who take him seriously. Yet inside his head he carries a grand and secret idea about who he really is.
That idea is that he is the living return of Sargon, King of Kings. The belief gives him dignity that his daily life never has. When he thinks of himself as a king from the distant past, the small humiliations of work and rent seem to matter less.
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What is Christina Alberta's Father about?
It is a comic novel about a quiet Englishman who believes he is the reincarnation of an ancient king, and about his modern daughter, who must decide how to live with his belief and the world's reaction to it.
Who wrote Christina Alberta's Father and when?
H. G. Wells wrote it, and it was published in 1925. It belongs to his later period, when he often mixed social satire with questions about education, class and belief.
Who was Sargon in the novel?
Sargon, King of Kings, was an ancient ruler of Mesopotamia. In the novel, Albert Edward Preemby comes to believe that he is Sargon returned to life, and this belief shapes how he sees himself.
The author
H. G. Wells
1866–1946 · English science fiction novelist
H. G. Wells (1866–1946) was an English writer born in Bromley, Kent. He wrote novels, short stories and nonfiction. His novels included The Time Machine (1895), The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896), The Invisible Man (1897) and The War of the Worlds (1898). He died in London.
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