6 h 40 minAudiobook9 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 6 h 40 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
In a harbour town full of gossip, love has more than two people to please.
Salthaven by W. W. Jacobs brings you close to a coastal community of tradesmen, seafarers and neighbours with opinions to share. Courtship takes place within earshot of local gossip. Love and loyalty matter here, but so do the social rules that make honest feelings awkward to express.
Jacobs finds comedy in plain talk, dry replies and the things people leave unsaid. Money, family approval and local opinion shape the question of who may marry whom. His warm, amused view of human weakness gives this Edwardian romance its gentle humour, inviting you to notice the feelings beneath the manners.
What you’ll discover
- A harbour community Step into a small coastal world of tradesmen, seafarers, gossip and courtship.
- Wit between the words Enjoy short, dry exchanges where what remains unsaid carries much of the joke.
- Courtship under watchful eyes Explore how money, family approval and neighbours' opinions complicate the course of love.
- Warmth behind the humour Meet human weakness through an amused gaze that stays gentle rather than harsh.
- Edwardian manners up close Discover the awkward distance between honest feeling and the rules that govern courtship.
Who will love it
You will enjoy this if you like gentle English humour, comic schemes that go wrong, sea captains with strong opinions and love stories where the funniest people are the servants and clerks.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A new partner arrives and shakes the office
- Captain Trimblett plans other people's lives
- Peter Truefitt cannot tell his sister he is engaged
- Robert and Joan keep meeting by accident
- Rosa and the boatswain fight their way to an understanding
- Mr. Vyner makes a threat and Joan makes a plan
- A false marriage brings very real consequences
- Love in Salthaven runs up against rank and money
- Fate, promises and good intentions drive the plot
- How the story is told in quick scenes
Who’s who
- Joan HartleyThe chief clerk's clever, quick-witted daughter, who wants to protect her father's position and keeps control of her own heart.
- Robert VynerThe young junior partner, cheerful and teasing, who wants Joan and uses every excuse to be near her.
- Mr. HartleyThe gentle chief clerk of thirty-five years, who loves his garden and wants only a quiet life for himself and his daughter.
- Captain TrimblettA bearded sea captain who believes in fate, gives advice to everyone and wants most of all to be left unmarried.
- Peter TruefittA fifty-two-year-old bachelor, engaged in secret, who wants to marry Miss Willett without hurting his sister.
- Rosa JelksThe Hartleys' yellow-haired maid, sharp-tongued and flirtatious, who wants a husband on her own terms.
- Mr. WaltersThe captain's tough, jealous boatswain, who swears off women and wants Rosa to behave herself.
- BassettThe earnest office boy in spectacles, fond of rules, shorthand and frogs, who wants to do his duty.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet or computer, once the book texts are online.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, once the book texts are online.
- Audiobook
- Read by Lucas Linden, complete. It opens once the recording is online.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 9 minutes, to read today.
- 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.
Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout. The eBook and the audiobook open when the book texts go online.
How it works
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read, listen and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook, audiobook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, 5 accounts for the price of one.
- We remind you first. Free for 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment. Then USD 0.14 a day in your first year on the yearly plan and USD 0.27 a day after, or USD 0.66 a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
Bought on its own? Every eBook, audiobook and printed book you buy without the plan carries our 30-day money-back guarantee.
Salthaven
by W. W. Jacobs · 1908
A sea captain, a pretend bride and a boy with a vivarium turn a quiet harbour town upside down.
Easy read5–10 hours to readEnglish
Excellent
- Read or listen
- Print and large print at cost
- 5 accounts for the price of one
Free for 3 months · starts right away, on any device
Read free3 months free · cancel anytimeFree for 3 months, then USD 0.14 a dayCancel anytimeHow it works
In short
What if a sea captain, who thinks every event was planned millions of years ago, took it on himself to arrange two love affairs at once? That is the mischief at the heart of Salthaven, a comic novel of a busy harbour town.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A new partner arrives and shakes the office
The novel opens in the office of Vyner and Son. Mr. John Vyner tells his chief clerk, Mr. Hartley, that his son Robert will soon join the firm. Robert will take Hartley's old room, the one with the view of the bridge and the harbour.
Hartley has served the firm for thirty-five years, and he accepts the news with a bow and a small sigh. At home he meets other small defeats. His maid Rosa is laughing with a man in the kitchen, and he ends up weeding the garden with his back to her window. There he meets Saunders, a young clerk with a bag of bindweed roots he believes are pretty flowers. Saunders hopes to see Joan, Hartley's daughter, but Hartley makes him dig until half past eight and she never appears.
Free for 3 months · Cancel anytime
You looked at
Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 9 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1908
- Language
- English
- Level
- Easy read
Cite this edition
Jacobs, W. W. Salthaven. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/salthaven.
Jacobs, W. W. (2026). Salthaven. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/salthaven (Original work published 1908)
Jacobs, W. W. Salthaven. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/salthaven.
@book{jacobs2026salthaven,
author = {Jacobs, W. W.},
title = {Salthaven},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/salthaven},
note = {First published 1908}
}
Free gifts
USD 580 in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, 5 accounts for the price of one. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
USD 170FREE - Every audiobookIn 25 languages, any device
USD 120FREE - 15-minute summariesRead or listen, in 25 languages
USD 60FREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
USD 60FREE - 5 accounts for the price of oneA shelf for everyone at home
USD 170FREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
Questions about Salthaven
Can I read it free?
Yes. The first key idea of the 15-minute summary is free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 3 months, with the eBook to keep, plus 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.
Can I buy the printed book?
Soon. The paperback, hardcover and large print editions are being prepared. Choose Paperback or Hardcover above, leave your email, and we tell you the day you can order it, printed at cost.
How many accounts do I get?
Five, for the price of one: you and 4 more people, each with their own login, shelf and their own place in every book.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. Nothing is charged in your first 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment.
What is Salthaven about?
It is a comic novel about a harbour town where a chief clerk's daughter, a shipowner's son and a sea captain get caught up in schemes about love, rank and marriage, with neighbours and servants adding their own plots.
Who is Captain Trimblett in Salthaven?
He is the bearded captain of the steamship Indian Chief. He believes in fate, gives advice freely, lodges at Tranquil Vale and is a close friend of Mr. Hartley, whose family he tries to help.
When was Salthaven written and is it a true story?
W. W. Jacobs wrote it as an Edwardian comedy. It is fiction, though its harbour setting, ships, offices and cottages for retired sailors reflect the working seaport life that Jacobs knew well.
The author
W. W. Jacobs
1863–1943 · English humorist and fiction writer
William Wymark Jacobs (1863–1943) was an English writer of short stories and novels. He was born in London and lived in England. His books include the story collection Sea Urchins (1898) and the novels A Master of Craft (1900) and Salthaven (1909). He died in London.
More by W. W. Jacobs
All 4 booksMore like this
Our mission
The library burned once. We are building it back.
Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages, new audiobooks and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.
Read our story- Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
- No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
- For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing
