Story summary
Краткое содержание: Чёрное — белое
- Чтение: 8 мин.
- 7 parts
- Аудио скоро
A wireless message from a ship at sea sends a young man into a rage and a household into upheaval.
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Чёрное — белое — кратко о книге
Краткое содержание: 8 min на чтение
- Время чтения
- Около 6 h 5 min4 h 50 min fast, 7 h 15 min slow
- Длительность
- Слов: 87 400
- Уровень в библиотеке
- Средний longer sentences, everyday words
- Первая публикация
- 1914by Джордж Барр Маккатчен
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). Сколько времени нужно на чтение классики · Обновлено
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Чёрное — белое in short
Black Is White follows a wealthy New York family through a winter of upheaval. A steely man brings home a mysterious new wife. Within weeks she has captivated her husband and his lonely son, alienated the old comrades, and asked about the first wife whose name no one may speak.
What Чёрное — белое is about
Two old men sit up past midnight, staring at a blue envelope that has crossed the Atlantic through the air. Neither dares open it, because it belongs to young Frederic Brood, who is out late. When Frederic finally reads the message, he burns it and storms away. What did his father send, and why does it make him so angry?
Black Is White is a novel by George Barr McCutcheon, the American author of Graustark and Brewster's Millions. It tells of a wealthy New York family, a house full of Eastern treasures, and a marriage announced from an ocean liner. You get the people, the tensions, and the main ideas, while the final turns are left for you to find. At its heart sits a plain question. Can a man who believes he was betrayed ever see the truth in front of his own face?
Для кого. Readers who enjoy family secrets, glamorous characters with uncertain motives, and houses crowded with mystery will love this novel. It also suits lovers of old-fashioned drama about love, loyalty, and suspicion told with warmth and humor.
The story in 7 parts
Key idea 1 · free to read
A blue envelope sets the house on edge
The story opens in a New York library on a bitter December night. Danbury Dawes and Joseph Riggs, two elderly adventurers, guard a blue envelope with a decanter of port between them. They owe their comfort to James Brood, the master of the house, whom they pulled out of the worst corner of Calcutta twenty years earlier. They would die for him.
The wireless message comes from a ship far out at sea, and the old men are sure Brood is sinking. Jones, the patient butler, tries four times to send them to bed. By midnight both are very drunk, and they weep over how many inches lie in four miles of water. It is comedy, but it also shows how deeply they love their friend.
Frederic comes home, reads the message, curses, and throws it into the fire. Then he tells Lydia Desmond, his father's secretary and his sweetheart, what it said. James Brood has married a woman in Paris and orders the house made ready for its new mistress. Frederic reads the curt orders as a slap. Lydia hears something else in them, and she weeps for reasons he does not see.
Next morning Mrs. Desmond, Lydia's mother and the housekeeper, calmly says she will leave once the new wife is settled. She urges Frederic to wait and judge the newcomer fairly. Everyone can feel the old order ending.
Loyalty and loneliness share the same house, and news can wound by the way it is sent.
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A lonely son finds a family of two
Frederic Brood is twenty-two, and he grew up without feeling loved for his own sake.
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The new Mrs. Brood wins everyone at the door
The couple arrives on a freezing afternoon.
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Brood is remade while the old order is moved out
In two weeks the new wife governs the whole household, and she does it without a single loud command.
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Ranjab watches, and Frederic begins to drift
Ranjab, the silent Indian servant, keeps the locked rooms at the top of the house.
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Dreams, a fever, and the waltz that haunts a house
Yvonne tells her husband that in his sleep he cries out one name, Matilde, and that he has never once said hers.
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A proposal, a telephone call, and a ruined evening
In the Desmond sitting room the next morning, Frederic suddenly asks Lydia to marry him tomorrow.
Read all 7 key ideas now
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Characters, plot and themes
Main characters
- Frederic Brood A gifted, lonely young man who has never felt his father's love and secretly plays the piano. He wants to be wanted.
- James Brood A rich traveler and collector, hard and wounded, who married again after twenty years of bitterness. He longs to put the past behind him.
- Lydia Desmond Brood's young secretary and Frederic's sweetheart, honest and brave. She wants to hold on to Frederic and keep peace in the house.
- Yvonne Brood Brood's beautiful, magnetic second wife, who rules the house with charm and keeps her real aims hidden.
- Ranjab Brood's silent Indian servant and conjuror, who seems to hear unspoken thoughts. He wants only to serve his master.
- Danbury Dawes One of two loyal old adventurers who live in the house, fond of drink and boasting. He wants to protect his friend Brood.
- Joseph Riggs Dawes's lifelong friend, tall, anxious, and quarrelsome. He wants the old days back and Brood safe.
- Mrs. Desmond Lydia's mother and the former housekeeper, steady and fair. She wants her daughter happy and the boy treated kindly.
How it ends (spoiler)
Brood is led to believe that Yvonne is about to run off with his son and fires at her, but Frederic leaps in front and takes the bullet. He survives, nursed by Yvonne, who admits she is Thérèse, the younger sister of Matilde, Brood's wronged first wife, and had married him for revenge. Frederic is indeed Brood's son. Brood leaves for Europe with his son and Lydia, orders Yvonne to wait for him, and later cables for her. She refuses to go, sure he will come.
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Вопросы о книге Чёрное — белое
What is Black Is White by George Barr McCutcheon about?
It follows a wealthy New York family after James Brood brings home a beautiful new wife. His lonely son Frederic, his devoted secretary Lydia, and two old comrades are all drawn into secrets about the past.
Who is Ranjab in Black Is White?
Ranjab is James Brood's silent Indian servant. He keeps the locked rooms at the top of the house, performs conjuring tricks, and seems able to sense what others think. Several characters fear and trust him.
Who is Yvonne Brood?
Yvonne Lestrange is the young, charming woman James Brood marries in Paris. She quickly wins over the household, but her real purposes in coming to New York stay hidden and drive much of the story.
Is Black Is White a true story?
No, it is a work of fiction by the American author George Barr McCutcheon, who died in 1928. It is a melodramatic romance with ideas of mind-reading and ghostly influence.
Is Black Is White easy to read?
Yes for most readers, because the chapters are short, the dialogue is lively, and the plot moves quickly from scene to scene. Two comic old men add humor and warmth throughout.
Как сослаться на это издание
McCutcheon, George Barr. Black Is White. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/black-is-white.
McCutcheon, G. B. (2026). Black is white. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/black-is-white (Original work published 1914)
McCutcheon, George Barr. Black Is White. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/black-is-white.
@book{mccutcheon2026black,
author = {McCutcheon, George Barr},
title = {Black Is White},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/black-is-white},
note = {First published 1914}
}
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