Mr. Waddy's Return

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Winthrop, Theodore, 1828-1861

Contributor:

Stevenson, Burton Egbert, 1872-1962

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource : multiple file formats

Place of Publication:

Salt Lake City, UT : Project Gutenberg,

Summary:

"Mr. Waddy's Return" by Theodore Winthrop is a novel written in the early 20th century. The story follows Ira Waddy, the descendant of a humble cook from the Mayflower, who returns to Boston after years of living as a wealthy nabob in India. Waddy's character represents a departure from his family's tradition of meekness and humility, and the narrative explores themes of identity, social class, and personal destiny as he navigates his newfound status and responsibilities. The opening of the book introduces readers to the peculiar lineage of the Waddy family and sets the stage for Ira's return home after a transformative experience abroad. The reader learns about Ira's ancestor, Whitegift Waddy, and the family's gradual rise in fortune, culminating in Ira's own wealth and the dramatic changes in his character and ambitions. Upon arriving back in Halifax, Ira displays his selflessness by jumping into the water to save a drowning child, marking him as a hero. However, the narrative foreshadows a more complex interaction with fate, as Ira struggles with the memories of his past and the consequences of his actions, which are intricately interwoven with the lives of others, including a tragic shipwreck linked to his arrival. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Credits:

Produced by D A Alexander, David E. Brown, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)

Notes:

Reading ease score: 73.2 (7th grade). Fairly easy to read.

Release date is 2020-09-27