The golden journey of Mr. Paradyne by William John Locke
The golden journey of Mr. Paradyne by William John Locke is a novella written in the early 20th century. It follows a celebrated London barrister whose tightly ordered life is upended by a sudden awakening that draws him from social respectability toward a vagabond quest for beauty and freedom. Cosmo Paradyne, K.C., lives a dutiful, airless life in Ealing with his cool, exacting wife just after marrying off his daughter. One night
he is bewitched by a young stranger’s silver flageolet and an elfin melody; after a second encounter he goes out walking and everything goes blank. He awakens months later in rural France near Chartres, bronzed, strong, and traveling in a hawker’s caravan with the flageolet in his pocket. Piecing together his lost weeks, he discovers he has been roaming the roads, selling wares, and living simply. He wires his wife, who scornfully disbelieves his amnesia yet offers to take him back for appearance’s sake. Torn between duty and a newfound sense of life, he visits the great cathedral, feels an overwhelming aesthetic and sensual reawakening, recalls how he won the flageolet by playing the tune perfectly, and hears the call of the open road toward France, Italy, and Sicily. At dawn he harnesses his horse and chooses the southward road, setting out on an irrevocable journey away from his former “dead” existence. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
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About this eBook
| Author | Locke, William John, 1863-1930 |
|---|---|
| Artist | Foster, Marcia Lane, 1897-1983 |
| Title | The golden journey of Mr. Paradyne |
| Original Publication | London: John Lane The Bodley Head Ltd., 1924. |
| Credits | Tom Trussel, Charlene Taylor and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive) |
| Language | English |
| LoC Class | PR: Language and Literatures: English literature |
| Subject | Voyages and travels -- Fiction |
| Subject | Runaway husbands -- Fiction |
| Subject | Middle-aged men -- Fiction |
| Subject | Lawyers -- Fiction |
| Category | Text |
| EBook-No. | 78127 |
| Release Date | Mar 6, 2026 |
| Copyright Status | Public domain in the USA. |
| Downloads | 4878 downloads in the last 30 days. |
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