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The Blue Lagoon #2
The Garden of God
The Garden of God (1923) is a novel by Henry De Vere Stacpoole. The second in a trilogy of novels including The Blue Lagoon (1908) and The Gates of Morning (1925), The Garden of God is a story of romance and adventure inspired by the author's travels in the South Pacific. The novel was adapted into the film Return to the Blue Lagoon (1991), a sequel to the 1980 hit drama starring Brooke Shields. "The whale boat and the dinghy lay together, gunnels grinding as they lifted to the swell. [...] [B]eyond and around from sky-line to sky-line the blue Pacific lay desolate beneath the day. 'They are dead.' He was gazing at the forms on the dinghy, the form of a girl with a child embraced in one arm, and a youth. Clasping one another, they seemed asleep." Aboard the whaling vessel Raratonga, Arthur Lestrange discovers his long-lost son and niece after years of searching. As they pull up alongside their fishing boat, however, he realizes they are too late-the shipwrecked youths have succumbed to the elements. Between them, a child lies asleep, offering some hope to the devastated father and crew. Visited by Dick and Emmeline in a dream, Arthur endeavors to return to Palm Tree, the island where they raised their son in peace. There, the boy is brought up by his grandfather and a crewmember named Jim Kearney, who keep him safe and teach him the ways of survival. When a beautiful girl -- a Spanish orphan raised by the Kanaka people from the nearby atoll of Karolin -- lands on the island, her fishing boat having been blown offcourse, he discovers something no one could have prepared him for: love.
Paperback
First published January 1, 1923
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About the author
Henry de Vere Stacpoole
211 books37 followersHenry De Vere Stacpoole (9 April 1863 – 12 April 1951), pseudonym: Tyler De Saix, was an Irish author, born in Kingstown (now Dún Laoghaire). His best known work is the 1908 romance novel The Blue Lagoon, which has been adapted into feature films on three occasions.
A ship's doctor for more than forty years, Stacpoole was also an expert on the South Pacific islands. His books frequently contained detailed descriptions of the natural life and civilizations with which he had become familiar on those islands.
He moved to the Isle of Wight in the 1920s and lived there until his death. He was buried at Bonchurch in 1951. [Wikipedia]
A ship's doctor for more than forty years, Stacpoole was also an expert on the South Pacific islands. His books frequently contained detailed descriptions of the natural life and civilizations with which he had become familiar on those islands.
He moved to the Isle of Wight in the 1920s and lived there until his death. He was buried at Bonchurch in 1951. [Wikipedia]
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 7, 2021
After just finishing The Blue Lagoon for the Classics Readathon, I was chomping at the bit to keep going with the story after that stunner of an ending so I chose the next book in the trilogy for another readathon entry. The Garden of God picked up right where the other left off.
Review:
For those who are considering the Blue Lagoon Trilogy, I will have to give spoilers for the first book though, in truth, a reading of the blurb will do that anyway just because of the way the plot happens.
At the start, The Garden of God picked up the story with what became of the other two boats that escaped the ship when Paddy, Em, and Dick's dinghy got separated. Mr. Lestrange survived his illness and never stopped looking for his son and niece. He did all he could and eventually, years later, had a promising lead. Sadly, just as he finds the boat with his son and niece, he finds them dead and a small child who is still alive. From that point, he needs to see the island where they survived and lived so he can know how things went for them over the years.
The story returns to the island, which the sailors call Palm Island though it isn't on any of the charts. With a sailor, Kearney and the small child the sailors have dubbed Dick Em because that is all he will say, Lestrange chooses to remain on the island because he is convinced his son and niece will be found there. Kearney volunteered to stay with the gently mad man and the little boy when the search ship sailed away and promised to return in a year. It never came back. Events take their course and this includes a Kanaka from the closest island being rescued from the sea and marooned. The girl Kanaka is about the same age as Dick Em and he is fascinated by his first female that he can remember and her odd rituals and ways that are different from what Kearney has taught him. There are further adventures caused by man and nature of a more breathtaking sort than ever came in The Blue Lagoon.
While the story is still that of isolation and survival and does involve a young man who has grown up isolated on the island with the skills and personality to thrive in such conditions, the plot has expanded and the conflict was more fierce to include the nearby island's culture through the girl who is mysterious even by Kanaka ways who ends up on Palm Island. I liked the Blue Lagoon, but I loved The Garden of God. Dick is curious, smart, and brave, but also clever with survival living and taking care of himself and is the match for the supposed native girl who has her own curious history that the reader is given in her opening narration, but the girl herself was too young to remember. She was trained by the tribal witch doctor and has her own notions about Kearney and Dick Em that aren't safe for them though they hardly realize it. But, as time passes, both young people have adventures together involving the elements, nature, a warring tribe, and visiting ships and they start to see each other differently and feel things that confuse them like understanding and attraction.
Like I said, I loved this one more than the first. It was written many years after and I could see the author's writing had matured, but also he chose to infuse more action moments and suspense to balance out the ethereal 'what if' ponderings that filled the first book. And, while the first book left the reader hanging a bit at the end, this one closed out the storyline neatly so the reader could stop here or choose to go on with the last of the trilogy.
It was a wonderful classic island survival adventure, two protagonists that were brought up isolated and innocent about the outside world and people, and their ongoing learning about that outside world, themselves, and each other. Again, it is appropriate for Young Adult Classic or Adults the way it is written.
Review:
For those who are considering the Blue Lagoon Trilogy, I will have to give spoilers for the first book though, in truth, a reading of the blurb will do that anyway just because of the way the plot happens.
At the start, The Garden of God picked up the story with what became of the other two boats that escaped the ship when Paddy, Em, and Dick's dinghy got separated. Mr. Lestrange survived his illness and never stopped looking for his son and niece. He did all he could and eventually, years later, had a promising lead. Sadly, just as he finds the boat with his son and niece, he finds them dead and a small child who is still alive. From that point, he needs to see the island where they survived and lived so he can know how things went for them over the years.
The story returns to the island, which the sailors call Palm Island though it isn't on any of the charts. With a sailor, Kearney and the small child the sailors have dubbed Dick Em because that is all he will say, Lestrange chooses to remain on the island because he is convinced his son and niece will be found there. Kearney volunteered to stay with the gently mad man and the little boy when the search ship sailed away and promised to return in a year. It never came back. Events take their course and this includes a Kanaka from the closest island being rescued from the sea and marooned. The girl Kanaka is about the same age as Dick Em and he is fascinated by his first female that he can remember and her odd rituals and ways that are different from what Kearney has taught him. There are further adventures caused by man and nature of a more breathtaking sort than ever came in The Blue Lagoon.
While the story is still that of isolation and survival and does involve a young man who has grown up isolated on the island with the skills and personality to thrive in such conditions, the plot has expanded and the conflict was more fierce to include the nearby island's culture through the girl who is mysterious even by Kanaka ways who ends up on Palm Island. I liked the Blue Lagoon, but I loved The Garden of God. Dick is curious, smart, and brave, but also clever with survival living and taking care of himself and is the match for the supposed native girl who has her own curious history that the reader is given in her opening narration, but the girl herself was too young to remember. She was trained by the tribal witch doctor and has her own notions about Kearney and Dick Em that aren't safe for them though they hardly realize it. But, as time passes, both young people have adventures together involving the elements, nature, a warring tribe, and visiting ships and they start to see each other differently and feel things that confuse them like understanding and attraction.
Like I said, I loved this one more than the first. It was written many years after and I could see the author's writing had matured, but also he chose to infuse more action moments and suspense to balance out the ethereal 'what if' ponderings that filled the first book. And, while the first book left the reader hanging a bit at the end, this one closed out the storyline neatly so the reader could stop here or choose to go on with the last of the trilogy.
It was a wonderful classic island survival adventure, two protagonists that were brought up isolated and innocent about the outside world and people, and their ongoing learning about that outside world, themselves, and each other. Again, it is appropriate for Young Adult Classic or Adults the way it is written.
February 27, 2009
Published in 1923, this book is the sequel to The Blue Lagoon. It follows the life of Dick and Em's baby after they are found by Dick's father, and follows them as they return to the island.
March 11, 2020
I read this immediately after Blue Lagoon because the cliffhanger was crazy. My library does not circulate this book anymore though. Luckily it is available to read online through Gutenberg.org. The story continues from where Blue Lagoon left off and does a good job of tying up all loose ends. No cliffhanger this time! There is a third book but I feel satisfied with the story’s ending at this point.
March 8, 2023
This has been on my list to read for decades, having fallen in love with the movie Return to the Blue Lagoon as a thirteen year old (I still love it). It was out of print, but I finally found a hard copy of it about ten years ago for $20, but only got around to reading it now (and of course now it's available on Kindle for $3).
The story starts pretty similarly to the movie, but completely diverges very quickly, really only using a few main characters names. In many ways, that made it more fun to read since a lot of weird things happened that I wouldn't have expected, but the "love" story that is the focus of the movie, was mostly lost here. It happened, but in a very matter-of-fact and unsatisfying way (not surprising for a 100 year old book).
Overall, I thought the plot was interesting, but the execution was slow for my modern taste. There was too much scene setting and description for what seemed to me like the same place (we're stranded on an island, right?). I did learn a lot of antiquated vocabulary for the flora and fauna of the sea/tropical island. I was constantly Googling words.
The story starts pretty similarly to the movie, but completely diverges very quickly, really only using a few main characters names. In many ways, that made it more fun to read since a lot of weird things happened that I wouldn't have expected, but the "love" story that is the focus of the movie, was mostly lost here. It happened, but in a very matter-of-fact and unsatisfying way (not surprising for a 100 year old book).
Overall, I thought the plot was interesting, but the execution was slow for my modern taste. There was too much scene setting and description for what seemed to me like the same place (we're stranded on an island, right?). I did learn a lot of antiquated vocabulary for the flora and fauna of the sea/tropical island. I was constantly Googling words.
December 30, 2022
All right book.....?.
I as a whole am very fond of Stacpoole, especially The Pools of Silence. The entire The Blue Lagoon trilogy was a bit of a let down as far as William de very Stacpoole goes. The last novel was interesting but not nearly as much as The Blue Lagoon itself which has some really artistically and literary descriptions of the beauty in which they were stranded. The books were, though, very recommended and worth reading . jhnmc1@aol.com
I as a whole am very fond of Stacpoole, especially The Pools of Silence. The entire The Blue Lagoon trilogy was a bit of a let down as far as William de very Stacpoole goes. The last novel was interesting but not nearly as much as The Blue Lagoon itself which has some really artistically and literary descriptions of the beauty in which they were stranded. The books were, though, very recommended and worth reading . jhnmc1@aol.com
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews