I read Richard Hughes's novel A High Wind in Jamaica every few years, and just finished reading it again. Many novelists have inimitable voices, Austen, Dickens, Trollope, G. Eliot, etc. but they're consistent from book to book. This novel, though, is absolutely unique even compared to Hughes's three others. It's more like a vision than anything planned out consciously. Wuthering Heights is the only other novel I know that feels like that, although (of course) they're nothing alike. Francine Prose explains more eloquently than I could do (but if you read the NYRB Classics edition skip her introduction at first because it's chock full of spoilers).

Oh, and it's about some children captured by pirates! Highly recommend!

#AHighWindInJamaica #RichardHughes #BritishLiterature #Pirates #FrancineProse #NYRBClassics #Bookstodon

It entered the public domain last year and is also available from the usual suspects.

https://annas-archive.gl/md5/eeff2193f2e4f872c294eb4106165447

A High Wind in Jamaica - Anna’s Archive

Richard Hughes; Francine Prose; OverDrive, Inc Richard Hughes's celebrated short novel is a masterpiece of concentrated narrative. Its dreamlike ac New York Review of Books, Incorporated, The

@AdrianRiskin Thank you! I've heard of it for years but knew nothing more than the title and now thanks to your recommendation I have a copy via @internetarchive: https://archive.org/details/highwindinjamaic0000rich_q3x6
A High Wind in Jamaica : Richard Hughes : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Internet Archive

@jmccyoung @internetarchive

I hope you like it! I envy anyone getting to read it for the first time.