A Transient Guest, and Other Episodes

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About this book

A young American arrives at Siak in Sumatra as the guest of a Dutch consul, bringing his fox terrier and an easy confidence into an unfamiliar household. Tancred Ennever meets his host's intended bride, Mrs. Lyeth, and daughter, Liance, amid palm groves, heavy heat and carefully observed social exchanges. Edgar Saltus gives the setting a restless atmosphere through descriptions of the harbor, insects, night sky and sea.

The collection also includes The Grand Duke's Rubies, A Maid of Modern Athens and Fausta. In the episode about rubies, a dealer recounts an encounter with a Russian customer while Alphabet Jones interrupts and silently criticizes his manners. Bargaining, pretension and verbal sparring provide a change of tone from the tropical opening. Readers interested in short fiction can compare Saltus's elaborate descriptive language with his sharp attention to conversation and social display.

About the author

Edgar Saltus

Edgar Saltus (1855-1921) was an American writer known for elegant, cynical prose and a gloomy philosophy drawn from Schopenhauer. A fixture of literary New York in the Gilded Age, he produced novels, essays, and histories before turning to mysticism late in life.