The Tides of Barnegat

''The Tides of Barnegat is a romance spanning a twenty year period from 1854 until 1874, with a highly melodramatic final chapter involving the newly organized U.S. Lifesaving Service in a tragic ship wreck....This scene of high drama comes as the resolution of a tightly constructed novel by a remarkable man.'' -- from the new Introduction by John Bailey Lloyd... Out of print for more than half a century, the text and original illustrations are carefully reproduced here in a reprint of this classic 1906 seashore novel by F. Hopkinson Smith. In a Victorian style capturing the gentle ebbing and the fierce moods of the ocean -- and the moods and personalities of the people living along its shores -- Smith's novel is a rich portrait of its time along the coast. It ''makes you yearn for the time when things such as honor and duty and responsibility and commitment were actually taken seriously,'' said one reviewer. The novel follows two sisters, Jane and Lucy Cobden. Jane, the older by ten years, had vowed alongside her father's deathbed long before to raise and protect Lucy. When Lucy returns from boarding school in Philadelphia, Jane gives her younger sister all she needs and desires with a caring hand, but does not find in Lucy the same forthright and dutiful character that she possesses. Misled by her love, Jane protects Lucy at the expense of her own life's happiness and a marriage to a man who loves her. A new introduction by Jersey Shore historian John Bailey Lloyd explains some of the peculiarities of the novel, as well as keying the reader in to what is below the surface of all the strident virtue -- strength commingled with human weakness -- and provides a fascinating look at the author, a remarkable man who was a marine engineer, builder of lighthouses, writer, and fine artist. This is high quality reprint of the original book. (It is not a print-on-demand facsimile edition.) This softcover edition features an original oil painting by Jersey Shore artist Marilyn Ganss and it is published simultaneously with a limited edition hardcover (ISBN 0-945582-83-8). Both editions are complete reprints, featuring the 12 original illustrations by George Wright. (The smythe-sewn hardcover carefully recreates the distinctive original gold foil and white dye stamping on a deep teal case.)