Books with title Moran of the Lady Letty

"Moran of the Lady Letty" by Frank Norris. Published by Good Press. Good Press publishes a wide range of titles that encompasses every genre. From well-known classics & literary fiction and non-fiction to forgotten−or yet undiscovered gems−of world literature, we issue the books that need to be read. Each Good Press edition has been meticulously edited and formatted to boost readability for all e-readers and devices. Our goal is to produce eBooks that are user-friendly and accessible to everyone in a high-quality digital format.

Moran of the Lady Letty, originally published in 1898, was Frank Norris's first published novel. Although an avid fan of Norris, having read some of his nautical adventure stories in the collection A Deal in Wheat, I did not approach this work with very high expectations. Soon after diving in, however, I was pleasantly surprised by how well-written and entertaining it is. Ross Wilbur is an educated young member of San Francisco's upper class. Killing time one afternoon before a society ball, he decides to take a stroll along the waterfront, where he is abducted by a sea captain and forced into service among the crew of a schooner. After an abusive welcome, he is informed by the captain that they will be fishing for sharks along the coast of Mexico for a few weeks, after which time Wilbur will be returned to his home port. After overcoming the initial shock of his capture, Wilbur resigns himself to his fate and actually begins to enjoy life at sea. The shark hunting is interrupted, however, when the crew stumbles upon a drifting, apparently abandoned ship named the "Lady Letty." Upon investigation they discover one survivor aboard, who, much to Wilbur's surprise, turns out to be a woman. Far from a damsel in distress, Moran, as the young woman is named, soon proves herself as fiercely independent, coarsely mannered, and physically powerful as any masculine sailor on the high seas.

Ross Wilber went to the docks to meet a friend. There he made the mistake of accepting a drink from a friendly sailor. He never dreamed that he- a member of San Francisco's high society-could end up drugged, sold to an unscrupulous captain, and shipped off for the Orient . . . in a word, shanghaied! By a series of strange twists of fate, his new-found employment proves anything but drudgery . . . between a derelict ship, a mutiny, and a female sailor named Moran, his adventures off the California coast are nothing short of extraordinary!

This is to be a story of a battle, at least one murder, and several sudden deaths. For that reason it begins with a pink tea and among the mingled odors of many delicate perfumes and the hale, frank smell of Caroline Testout roses. There had been a great number of debutantes "coming out" that season in San Francisco by means of afternoon teas, pink, lavender, and otherwise. This particular tea was intended to celebrate the fact that Josie Herrick had arrived at that time of her life when she was to wear her hair high and her gowns long, and to have a "day" of her own quite distinct from that of her mother. -excerpt from "Moran of the Lady Letty"