Sylvia's Lovers

First published in 1863, this novel is set in Monkshaven, a Yorkshire whaling port modeled on Whitby, during the Napoleonic wars, when press-gangs seize sailors for the navy. Sylvia Robson, a farmer's daughter, loves the specksioneer Charley Kinraid. Her cousin Philip Hepburn, a draper's assistant who loves her, conceals Kinraid's impressment and lets her think him drowned. Sylvia's father, Daniel, is drawn into resistance against the gang. Philip marries Sylvia, then must live with the lie as Kinraid's fate remains unresolved. The book is a historical novel of love, impressment, and conscience, not a naval chronicle.

Bound in purple cloth blocked with a gold pattern. Maroon slipcase.