Gentleman Overboard

Book cover of Gentleman Overboard

Book description

Out of print for over seventy years, Gentleman Overboard by Herbert Clyde Lewis is being rescued for today's readers to launch Boiler House Press's new series, Recovered Books.
Halfway between Honolulu and Panama, a man slips and falls from a ship. For crucial hours, as he patiently treads water in…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Gentleman Overboard as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Cordelia Schmidt-Hellerau

Author

This poignant story captured me: Henry Preston Standish, a single traveler on a cruise ship between Honolulu and Panama, unnoticed by anybody, slips on wet planks and falls into the Pacific Ocean. As his steamboat is further and further gliding away, Standish works on staying afloat. He is convinced he will be missed and the boat will return to rescue him.

The author moves back and forth between Standish's thoughts about his life and his impending rescue and the people on board who notice his absence without suspecting any emergency. I was very moved following how Standish's hopes fade and…

From Cordelia's 3 favorite reads in 2023.