The Beach of Dreams (1919) is a novel by Henry De Vere Stacpoole. Although he is more widely known for his novel The Blue Lagoon (1908), which inspired the 1980 hit drama starring Brooke Shields, Stacpoole was a prolific bestselling author whose dozens of literary works allow the reader to enter the world of nautical adventure. “It was as though deep in his being lay a blazing hatred born of injustice through ages and only coming to light when upborne by balloon-juice. On these occasions a saloon bar with its glitter and phantom show of mirth and prosperity sometimes called on him to dispense and destroy it, the passion to fight the crowd seized him, a passion that has its origin, perhaps, in sources other than alcohol.” In his youth, Henry De Vere Stacpoole sailed across the South Pacific as a ship’s doctor, gathering the raw imaginative materials that would inspire dozens of romance and adventure novels. In The Beach of Dreams, a yacht collides with a fishing vessel in the middle of the South Pacific, leaving few alive. The survivors—a rich woman and a pair of weathered sailors—attempt to survive on a nearby island, but soon the men prove impossible to trust. In her darkest hour, Cléo de Bromsart encounters Raft, a brash and brave fisherman with striking red hair and a hatred of injustice. Together, they form an alliance against the elements and await their day of rescue. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Henry De Vere Stacpoole’s The Beach of Dreams is a classic of British literature reimagined for modern readers.
