The Magic Ship (English and German Edition)

By Sandra Paretti

Book Overview

This is also the historical account of the Kronprinzessin Cecile, the famous German luxury liner that fled hostile seas on the eve of World War I and unexpectedly appeared in Frenchman Bay in August 1914. This entertaining novel is rich with memorable characters and revealing glimpses into the early days of Bar Harbor's fabulous summer "cottage" life.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312504195
• ISBN13: 9780312504199
• Release Date: January 1979
• Publisher: St Martins Pr
• Length: 342 Pages
• Weight: 2.10 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Enjoyable, but left me wanting more

An entertaining novel exploring high society life in Bar Harbor at the start of WWI when a German passenger liner is obliged to find a neutral port when hostilities break out between Germany, England and France. Billed as a love story, that may be a bit of a stretch. The arrival of the ship is a fact; the characters that populate the novel are fictional creations and their courtships seem a lot more like business arrangements than love affairs. If anything, the real love may be between the town and the ship!In this novel the characters who are in love are too often not developed fully so their motivations remain unclear. A number of other characters are vividly created (especially the grand dame of the novel and, by extension, Bar Harbor in 1914), so the author clearly has the ability to round them out.I liked the book, just felt it was perhaps more spare than necessary.