Mr. Fortune's Maggot (Paperback)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

'One can't be too thankful that Miss Townsend Warner has lived to discover the alchemists' secret of transmuting the past and the possible, and even the impossible now and then, into pure gold' HILARY SPURLING, OBSERVER 'One of our most idiosyncratic, courageous and versatile writers' HERMIONE LEE --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Description

1927. From the author of the delightful Lolly Willowes or The Loving Huntsman comes this charming fiction: Though the Reverend Timothy Fortune had spent three years in the island of Fanua he had made but one convert. Some missionaries might have been galled by this state of things, or if too good to be galled, at least flustered; but Mr. Fortune was a humble man of heart and he had the blessing which rests upon humility: an easygoing nature. In appearance he was tall, rawboned and rather rummaged looking; even as a young man he had learnt that to jump in first doesn't make the bus start any sooner; and his favorite psalm was the one which begins: My soul truly waiteth still upon God. See other titles by this author available from Kessinger Publishing.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 248 pages
• Publisher: Kessinger Publishing (July 30, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1417926139
• ISBN-13: 978-1417926138
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #8,358,630 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Love Laws, January 5, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Mr. Fortune's Maggot (Virago Modern Classics) (Paperback)

Gay? Or not gay? Let the reader decide. This very short novel about a Victorian-headed missionary who loses his head in the South Seas is a love story. The lover is the British man, the missionary, who gradually loses his balance. This is almost a spoof of "going native," because in this case, the natives are far more sensible and "civilized" than the missionary. The beloved is a native boy who is clueless of Mr. Fortune's torments, the guilts, and anguish. Forget about looking for "the good parts," if by that you mean the parts where they get it on. That never happens. What does happen is love. Mr. Fortune, against his will, loves Lueli, a young man who loves everything around him as easily as breathing and has no concept of shame. The novel invites us to think about guilt itself, about sexuality in any form, and about love. As Arundhati Roy wrote sixty years later, it is a novel about "the laws that lay down who should be loved and how. And how much." Like all of Townsend-Warner's novels, this one reminds the reader of impermanence. "For no reason he could see he had suddenly become immensely popular. And as he walked to and fro in the twilight waiting for his guests to take themselves off he heard his name being bandied about in tones of the liveliest affection and approval. He had one consolation: by the morrow he would be out of fashion again. As for Lueli, they scarcely mentioned him. If he had drowned they would have spent the evening wailing and lamenting: not for him but for themselves, at the reminder of their own mortality, after the natural way of mourning."

5.0 out of 5 stars Tolerance, March 24, 2009

By	D. Barnhouse - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Mr. Fortune's Maggot (New York Review Classics) (Paperback)

Makes you question your own foundation and beliefs. Helps you to see that some things are better unloved or left alone.