The Rising of the Moon

by Emile Capouya

First published in the Netherlands, "The Rising of the Moon" met immense critical acclaim. The Lyons Press is thrilled to publish this immaculately crafted short novel for the first time in the United States. Emile Capouya takes us on the personal odyssey of a young American merchant seaman, a tale of honor integrity, bravery, and friendship. Mike, the novel's protagonist, is in his twenties, broke, adrift in postwar France, looking for a ship to captain. The job he takes is a dubious one, smuggling cigarettes (and sometimes people) out of Tangier for a shady organization. His quick temper is born of a staunch defense of dignity and of his own ironclad sense of justice. His seemingly reckless bravery once saves his crew and once endangers them. And finally, when he walks away and returns to the States, he has experienced a lifetime of lessons, some as illuminating as self- knowledge and others as dark as mutiny and murder.It is a blazing testament to Capouya's enormous talent.

120 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2002

Reviews

[Juanita · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review: The Rising of The Moon by Emile Capouya.

Emile Capouya takes us on the personal journey of a young American merchant seaman, a story of honor, integrity, bravery, and friendship. It was an enjoyable story with really no plot but an acceptable storytelling theme.

It 19s a short story about a highly righteous and combative seaman in his twenties named Mike, who was broke, adrift in postwar France looking to be hired as a Captain of a ship. He had an argument with the agent who he usually gets his assignments from so he was having a string of bad luck finding work.

During his abandonment adrift he is mistaken for a murder suspect, interrogated and beaten up by the police. Finally being established as a sea merchant he was out of that mess. He finally takes a captains dubious job of dishonesty smuggling contraband cigarettes and sometimes people out of Tangier from France to Italy for a shady organization. Not long through his journeys he discovers he had been transporting disguised Nazi officers.

Mike is likely to take some risks as long as his efforts are on the side of justice. He is a compelling, sentimental hero, but sometimes overemphasizes his moral integrity by exhaustively detailing his various quarrels with ex-captains and company officers. He could be boisterous and assertive just to cause misery to other seamen.

[Jan · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story, about smuggling operations sometime after WO II, could have been told adventurously, but it is told in such a straight forward, vapid way, without any tension, that it has disappointed me, certainly in relation to Capouya's set of short stories, 'In the Sparrow hills'. JM