Percival Christopher Wren

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The book "" Driftwood Spars The Stories of a Man, a Boy, a Woman, and Certain Other People Who Strangely Met Upon the Sea of Life, has been considered important throughout the human history, and so that this work is never forgotten we have made efforts in its preservation by republishing this book in a modern format for present and future generations. This whole book has been reformatted, retyped and designed. These books are not made of scanned copies and hence the text is clear and readable.

The English Novels Part A contains two novels, Bubble Reputation and Cardboard Castle, that are set in the English countryside in large country manor houses. Bubble Reputation is the story of Sir Giles Cortenay (known as Bump), the last descendant of an old English family. Due to difficult economic circumstances, Bump has turned the family manor into a country hotel. The main plot is about the mystery of the murder of Bump's granduncle and the search for a great hoard of jewels hidden on the estate by Bump's buccaneer ancestor. The second novel, Cardboard Castle, is the story of Henry Waring, and a teenager, Anthony Calderton, who is the son of Lord and Lady Calderton, and considered "different", and who remains at home when his parents leave to govern a British colony. When Lady Calderton is taken ill, however, she comes home to recuperate and this is when the villain, Captain Bertie-Norton, appears. This so-called "old friend" of Lady Calderton is actually her first husband, who everybody thought had died twenty years ago. He now wants Lady Calderton to provide his upkeep and living since he wants to "settle down" after his adventuring throughout the world. He wants to do this without anybody knowing who he really is. The rest of the book is about how Lady Calderton and Henry Waring, deal with Bertie-Norton and his demands, and how Henry deals with the teenager who is "mad" about the English Civil War.

Volume Six of The Collected Novels of P. C. Wren, The English Novels, contains four novels with a different setting than that of his other novels. The action takes place almost entirely in England, which is why the title of this omnibus edition is the English novels. Part B contains two novels, The Mammon of Righteousness (1930) and Two Feet From Heaven (1940), that are the most psychological, versus action and adventure, of all of Wren's novels. The Mammon of Righteousness is the story of Algernon Coxe, a neurotic young man heavily under the influence of his over-domineering mother, Miranda. He meets and falls in love with a young woman, Giovanna Blayton, of whom his mother disapproves. Algernon's mother persuades him to marry another young woman, but before he does, Giovanna asks him to look after a large traveling trunk or box while she goes away for a while. He does so, but his wife shortly discovers the dead body of Giovanna in the box and Algernon is arrested for Giovanna's murder. The second novel, Two Feet From Heaven, is the story of a vicar, Richard Neystoke, of a small village in the country, and his mental illness. Wren described the story as "quire a new departure, and more of an orthodox novel than a 'rattling good yarn', as the lowest form of review calls the story of action and romantic adventure. . . . The book is, of course, mainly a pathological study, and the 'hero' an abnormal neurotic and something of a Jekyll-and-Hyde. His character on the whole, is admirable, but infirm of purpose and with a weak and cowardly streak. Like all my characters, he is drawn from life. . . . He is, however the victim of an equally fundamental weakness of character-unstable temperament and an injurious mother complex."

Beau Geste is a 1924 adventure novel by P. C. Wren. It has been adapted for the screen several times.Michael "Beau" Geste is the protagonist. The main narrator (among others), by contrast, is his younger brother John. The three Geste brothers of Brandon Abbas are used as a metaphor for the British upper class values of a time gone by, and "the decent thing to do" is, in fact, the leitmotif of the novel.The Geste brothers are orphans and have been brought up by their aunt. The rest of Beau's band are mainly Isobel and Claudia (only daughter of Lady Patricia, and in a way, also reason enough for Michael to join the French Foreign Legion), and Lady Patricia's relative Augustus.When a precious jewel known as the "Blue Water" goes missing, suspicion falls on the young people, and Beau leaves Britain to join the Foreign Legion (la L gion trang re), followed by his brothers, Digby (his twin) and John. There, after some adventure and separation from Digby, the sadistic Sergeant Lejaune gets command of the little garrison at Fort Zinderneuf in French North Africa, and only an attack by Tuaregs prevents a mutiny and mass desertion (of course the Geste brothers and a few loyals are against the plot). Throughout the book and adventures, Beau's behaviour is true to France and the Legion, and he dies at his post. At Brandon Abbas, the last survivor of the three brothers, John, is welcomed by their aunt and his fianc e Isobel, and the reason for the jewel theft is revealed to have been a matter of honour, and to have been the only "decent thing" possible.

Beau Geste is a 1924 adventure novel by P. C. Wren. It has been adapted for the screen several times.Michael "Beau" Geste is the protagonist. The main narrator (among others), by contrast, is his younger brother John. The three Geste brothers of Brandon Abbas are used as a metaphor for the British upper class values of a time gone by, and "the decent thing to do" is, in fact, the leitmotif of the novel.The Geste brothers are orphans and have been brought up by their aunt. The rest of Beau's band are mainly Isobel and Claudia (only daughter of Lady Patricia, and in a way, also reason enough for Michael to join the French Foreign Legion), and Lady Patricia's relative Augustus.When a precious jewel known as the "Blue Water" goes missing, suspicion falls on the young people, and Beau leaves Britain to join the Foreign Legion (la L gion trang re), followed by his brothers, Digby (his twin) and John. There, after some adventure and separation from Digby, the sadistic Sergeant Lejaune gets command of the little garrison at Fort Zinderneuf in French North Africa, and only an attack by Tuaregs prevents a mutiny and mass desertion (of course the Geste brothers and a few loyals are against the plot). Throughout the book and adventures, Beau's behaviour is true to France and the Legion, and he dies at his post. At Brandon Abbas, the last survivor of the three brothers, John, is welcomed by their aunt and his fianc e Isobel, and the reason for the jewel theft is revealed to have been a matter of honour, and to have been the only "decent thing" possible.

Beau Geste is a rollicking adventure story of the French Foreign Legion. Set in the period before World War I it has captured the imagination of generation after generation. The Gestes brothers orphans from a well to do family. When suspicion of theft of a family heir loom falls upon the boys they separately decide to dun off and find seek their fortune with the French Foreign Legion. Adventure, danger, and destiny await them.

Beau Geste is a rollicking adventure story of the French Foreign Legion. Set in the period before World War I it has captured the imagination of generation after generation. The Gestes brothers orphans from a well to do family. When suspicion of theft of a family heir loom falls upon the boys they separately decide to dun off and find seek their fortune with the French Foreign Legion. Adventure, danger, and destiny await them.

Beau Geste is a 1924 adventure novel by P. C. Wren. It has been adapted for the screen several times.Michael "Beau" Geste is the protagonist. The main narrator (among others), by contrast, is his younger brother John. The three Geste brothers of Brandon Abbas are used as a metaphor for the British upper class values of a time gone by, and "the decent thing to do" is, in fact, the leitmotif of the novel.The Geste brothers are orphans and have been brought up by their aunt. The rest of Beau's band are mainly Isobel and Claudia (only daughter of Lady Patricia, and in a way, also reason enough for Michael to join the French Foreign Legion), and Lady Patricia's relative Augustus.When a precious jewel known as the "Blue Water" goes missing, suspicion falls on the young people, and Beau leaves Britain to join the Foreign Legion (la L gion trang re), followed by his brothers, Digby (his twin) and John. There, after some adventure and separation from Digby, the sadistic Sergeant Lejaune gets command of the little garrison at Fort Zinderneuf in French North Africa, and only an attack by Tuaregs prevents a mutiny and mass desertion (of course the Geste brothers and a few loyals are against the plot). Throughout the book and adventures, Beau's behaviour is true to France and the Legion, and he dies at his post. At Brandon Abbas, the last survivor of the three brothers, John, is welcomed by their aunt and his fianc e Isobel, and the reason for the jewel theft is revealed to have been a matter of honour, and to have been the only "decent thing" possible.

The Later India Novels Part B contains two novels, The Man of a Ghost and Worth Wile; the story of Richard Wendover. The novels are typical adventure novels of the "Northwest Frontier" of British India, which were very popular in the early twentieth century in both book and film productions. The Man of a Ghost starts out in East Africa during World War I where Wendover is given a court-martial and a dishonorable discharge when he is found on duty in an apparent drunken state. Wendover and his friend, the Pathan, Shere Khan, wander over Africa and Central Asia, until finally Wendover and Shere Khan are able to prove Wendover was drugged by the medical officer. Worth Wile starts with the story of a military airplane raid that crashes in the mountains. The young airman, John Vere-Vaughan, survives the crash and is taken prisoner by the Pathans and is used in a plot to capture a British outpost. The novel continues with a flashback and introduces, Wendover's best friend, Sybil Ffoulkes, who is in love with him. Prince (and Commissar) Bailitzin who was a rival for Sybil's hand becomes a Russian secret service agent and is involved in capturing and torturing Wendover as a British secret service agent. After escaping, Wendover saves Vere-Vaughan after he is reinstated and reunited with Sybil. But soon a tragic series of events occur where Wendover has to break Shere Khan out jail, and has to flee back to the mountains.

The Later India Novels Part A contains two novels, Beggars' Horses, published in America in 1943, after Wren's death, as The Dark Woman, and Explosion which never saw an American publication. Beggars' Horses is the story of six British army officers who have a confrontation with an Indian fakir or Holy Man. The six officers are asked what they would "wish" for. One asks for great strength, the others ask to be healthy, to live a long life, for happiness, for great wealth, and for great courage. The rest of the story is how the six men obtain their wishes and how "a dark woman" interacts with them. Explosion deals with a plot by Indian agitators to use a large bomb to kill British officials and destroy several buildings: a literal explosion. The main characters are Anthony Steele, the Superintendent of Police, and Betty Gopaldas, an young English woman married to an Indian, who is one of the group of agitators planning the explosion. With Betty, being infatuated with Steele, he is able to persuade her to help him uncover the bomb plot. There are minor plots about British society in an Indian city during the British Raj, and Wren is able to convey the thoughts and feelings of a strong Imperialist in favor of British rule.

Driftwood Spars By Percival Christopher Wren