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
Kanaka native named Karolin arrives from a nearby atoll, he discovers
something no one could have prepared him for: love. With a beautifully
designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of
Henry De Vere Stacpoole's The Garden of God is a classic of British
literature reimagined for modern readers.
