J Meade Falkner – författare

A classic story of high adventure, treasure and smuggling set in a small Dorset village of Moonfleet. Soon to be a major Sky TV series starring Ray Winstone.When young John Trenchard finds a secret passage, he''s sure it will lead him to Blackbeard''s infamous lost treasure - a huge diamond of incredible value. But what John finds among the coffins beneath Moonfleet church is a smuggler''s lair. And a coded message from Blackbeard himself . . . John is inadvertently caught up in the dangerous world of the smugglers and is forced to run for his life. While he hides from the authorities, he decodes Blackbeard''s message. He now knows where the diamond is.But there are unknown perils between John and the diamond and his boyish dreams of great riches soon turn into very real nightmares . . .

Orphaned John Trenchard grows up in the village of Moonfleet with his aunt, entranced by the local legend of the ghostly Blackbeard, who rises each winter night to search for his lost diamond. While conducting his own hunt for the treasure, John is trapped in the church crypt and discovers the true secret of the village: smuggling. Taken under the wing of the gruff innkeeper and chief smuggler, Elzevir Block, John begins a dangerous adventure which will see him in a hair-raising chase along a precarious cliff path and deciphering a hidden code in an ancient castle. Moonfleet is a thrilling story of revenge and betrayal, of loyalty and great sacrifice, but it is above all a story about friendship.

Moonfleet (1898) is an adventure novel by J. Meade Falkner. Largely forgotten by today’s readers, Falkner was more widely known in his lifetime for his nonfiction works on history and topography as well as his role as chairman of a major arms manufacturer. Far from the amateur musings of a bored millionaire, Falkner’s writing shows a mastery of genre fiction while benefitting from his extensive geographical knowledge. Moonfleet has been adapted several times for radio, television, and film, most notably for Fritz Lang’s 1955 feature of the same name. “When I was a child I thought that this place was called Moonfleet, because on a still night, whether in summer, or in winter frosts, the moon shone very brightly on the lagoon; but learned afterwards that ''twas but short for ''Mohune-fleet'', from the Mohunes, a great family who were once lords of all these parts.” Growing up in Moonfleet, young John Trenchard couldn’t help but hear the legends of the powerful Mohune family, whose ancestor Colonel Blackbeard is said to have stolen a diamond from King Charles I. An orphan, he is raised by his aunt, Miss Arnold, who tries to protect him from the violence and crime perpetuated by local smugglers. At church one Sunday, John hears noises from the crypt below and endeavors to return. The next day, he encounters two of his friends beside the church wall, and suspects they are searching for the ghost of Blackbeard. As he steps into a sinkhole in the graveyard, he finds himself in a tunnel leading to the crypt, where the telltale signs of smuggling reveal a shocking secret. This edition of J. Meade Falkner’s Moonfleet is a classic of English adventure fiction reimagined for modern readers.

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