- Moonfleet
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This article is about the novel. For the film adaptation, see Moonfleet (1955 film).
Moonfleet Author(s) J. Meade Falkner Country United Kingdom Language English Genre(s) Adventure novel Publisher Edward Arnold Publication date 1898 Media type Print (Hardback & Paperback) Pages 305pp +32pp ads[1] Moonfleet is a tale of smuggling by the English novelist J. Meade Falkner, first published in 1898. The book was extremely popular among children worldwide up until the 1970s, mostly for its themes of adventure and gripping storyline. It remains a popular story widely read and is still sometimes studied in schools.
Contents
Plot summary
In 1757, Moonfleet is a small village near the sea in the south of England. It gets its name from a formerly prominent local family, the Mohunes whose coat of arms included a symbol shaped like a capital 'Y'. John Trenchard is an orphan who lives with his aunt, Miss Arnold. Other notable residents are the sexton Mr Ratsey who is friendly to John, Parson Glennie, the local clergyman who also teaches in the village school, Elzevir Block, the landlord of the local inn, called the Mohune Arms but nicknamed the Why Not? because of its sign with the Mohune 'Y', and Mr Maskew, the unpopular local magistrate and his beautiful daughter, Grace.
Village legend tells of the notorious Colonel John "Blackbeard" Mohune who is buried in the family crypt under the church. He is reputed to have stolen a diamond from King Charles I and hidden it. His ghost is said to wander at night looking for it and the mysterious lights in the churchyard are attributed to his activities.
As the main part of the story opens, Block's son has just been killed by Maskew during an attack by the authorities on a smuggling boat. One night a bad storm hits the village and there is a flood. While attending the Sunday service at church, John hears strange sounds from the crypt below. He thinks it is the sound of the coffins of the Mohune family. The next day, he finds Elzevir and Ratsey against the south wall of the church. They claim to be checking for damage from the storm.
Later John finds a large sinkhole has opened in the ground by a grave. He follows the passage and finds himself in the crypt with coffins on shelves and casks on the floor. He realises his friends are smugglers and this is their hiding place. He has to hide behind a coffin when he hears Ratsey and Elzevir coming. When they leave, they fill in the hole trapping him. John finds a locket in a coffin which holds a piece of paper with verses from the Bible. John eventually passes out after drinking too much of the wine while trying to quench his thirst, having not eaten or drunk for days. Later he wakes up in the Why Not? Inn. He tries to go back to his aunt but after his long absence and staying at the inn, she does not want him there so he lives in the inn with Block.
When Block's lease on the Why Not? comes up for renewal, Maskew bids against him in the auction and wins. Block must leave the inn and Moonfleet but plans one last smuggling venture. John says goodbye to Grace Maskew, his love, and gets his mother's prayer book. The excisemen and Maskew are aware of the run but do not know exactly where it will occur. During the landing Maskew appears and is caught by the smugglers. Elzevir demands vengeance for his son by killing Maskew and while the rest land the cargo and leave, he and John watch Maskew. Just as Block prepares to shoot Maskew the excisemen attack and Maskew is killed by them and John is wounded. Block carries John away to safety and they hide in some old quarries. While there, John with a clue from Ratsey realises the locket verses are a code telling where Blackbeard Mohune's diamond is hidden.
Once John's wound heals, he and Block decide to recover the diamond from Carisbrooke Castle. They succeed and escape to Holland where they try and sell it to a Jewish diamond merchant. The merchant cheats them and when they try and get back the diamond by burglary, they are arrested and sentenced to prison. John curses the merchant for his lies.
Block and John go to prison for many years until they are transported to Batavia. On the voyage, their ship runs aground near Moonfleet. Block helps John to get ashore through the surf but he drowns, and John ends up in the bar of the Why Not? with Ratsey.
John meets Grace again. She is still in love with him and is a rich young lady after her father's death. John tells her about the diamond and his life in prison. He regrets having lost everything, but then Parson Glennie tells him that the Jewish diamond merchant fell under John's curse, and to try to remove the curse, left John all the money he got from the diamond.
John gives the money to the village, new almshouses are built. The school and the church are renovated and John marries Grace. They have three children and never leave the village.
Backgammon
A feature of the narrative is a continuing reference to the boardgame of backgammon which is played by the patrons of the Why Not? on an antique board which bears a Latin inscription Ita in vita ut in lusu alae pessima jactura arte corrigenda est (translated in the book as As in life, so in a game of hazard, skill will make something of the worst of throws). This inscription provides a moralistic metaphor to the story of the orphan boy who in the end overcomes his travails.
Geography of the book
Falkner uses the local geography of Dorset and the Isle of Wight in the book, only changing some of the place names. The village of Moonfleet is based on East Fleet in Dorset by Chesil Beach. The headland in the book called The Snout is Portland Bill. The castle is Carisbrooke Castle on the Isle of Wight.
Adaptations in other media
The book was filmed by Fritz Lang in 1955 and released under the same name, with a screenplay adapted by Jan Lustig from the novel, and starring Stewart Granger. The movie altered the novel's plot substantially. Among other changes, its young hero was given a newly-invented aristocratic mentor (played by Granger), while the role of the working class Elzevir Block was minimized. Lang's film has enjoyed some cachet among French film critics.
In 1964, the BBC filmed a 6-episode TV adaptation under the title Smuggler's Bay, starring future Doctor Who stars Frazer Hines and Patrick Troughton as John Trenchard and Ratsey, respectively.
In 1984, a TV mini-series was filmed, starring Adam Godley and David Daker. There is also a 90-minute BBC radio version, starring Richard Pearce (BBC Radio's Tintin, as well) as John Trenchard.
The Colonial Radio Theatre On The Air released a 300 min. production of the book in May 2009, Starring Jerry Robbins, David Ault, and Rob Cattell. It was dramatized by Deniz Cordell, and produced by M. J. Cogburn.
Angel Exit Theatre Company devised a production which toured the UK in 2009.
In 2010, Chris de Burgh released an album called Moonfleet & Other Stories featuring a story based on the book.
Notes
- ^ Adrian Harrington Rare Books Winter Catalogue 2006-2007
External links
Categories:- 1898 novels
- English novels
- Adventure novels
- Novels set in Dorset
- Novels about orphans
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