James A. Cooper

(1917) Cap'n Abe is a shopkeeper now, but he tells a great many tall tales of his days on the sea. He's actually afraid of water and has never been to sea, but when there's a storm he jumps into a dory to help save the folks on a ship that's foundering on the rocks, and he does himself proud. These books are great yarns and all have happy endings and are comfortingly predictable. The lovers always wind up together in the end. They have great Cape flavor and answer for anyone who's out of Joe Lincoln books or Phoebe Atwood Taylor.… (mehr)

(1919) Cap'n Jonah has skippered merchant ships for many years, but lost all his money. His rheumatism is getting the better of him, and he decides to go home to Cardhaven (Cape Cod), to settle down with his last remaining relative a niece. She's not a nice person, and only wants him if he has money she might inherit. He takes a fancy to the young maid-of-all-work in the household whom his family abuses, and uses the threat of disinheritance to get them to treat her better. Just when the issue must come to a crux because he's about out of money, he comes into a fortune after all.

There's a great scene where a woman falls off a cliff onto a ledge in a storm and her paramour saves her. Two pairs of lovers wind up together in the end. The four books of Mr. Cooper, Cap'n Abe's Store, Tobias O'the Light, Sheila of Big Wreck Cove and this, are the answer to anyone who has run out of Joe Lincoln books to read.… (mehr)