What's Inside
This collection gathers stories that swing between the humid Caribbean and the sub-zero Yukon. In the title piece, a man follows a woman wearing a crimson gardenia through the Mardi Gras crowds, only to stumble into a kidnapping plot. Other entries move to Haiti, where Colonel Petithomme Laguerre navigates a revolution, and the far North, where miners endure charcoal-gas in the drifts and the isolation of the trail. The volume focuses on men at the end of their rope — whether literally in the tropics or financially in a city office — who find that a sudden change in geography is the only cure for a ruined reputation.
Works & figures
- Van
A traveler who encounters a mysterious woman and a white flower in a crowded pavilion.
- Petithomme Laguerre
A colonel of tirailleurs eating roasted pig before a jungle escape. (in “ROPE'S END”)
- Butler Murray
A man holding a million dollars in life insurance seeking a death. (in “"MAN PROPOSES--"”)
- Johnny Cantwell
A partner in the North struggling with the weight of a debt. (in “THE WEIGHT OF OBLIGATION”)
- McGill
An adventurer who arrives in Ophir via a dory through running ice. (in “MCGILL”)
- Scrap Iron Kid
A romantic Wag-boy who announces the arrival of a new hotel keeper. (in “THE WAG-LADY”)
What it's really about
- Solitude
- The mental strain of the wilderness on partners.
- Exile
- Men fleeing southward or northward to escape their pasts.
Why it's memorable
- A man being pulled ashore from a frozen river while clutching a sheet-iron stove.
- The image of seventeen insurance policies neatly typed and ready for a death.
Where to start
Start with The Crimson Gardenia for a fast-paced masquerade or The Weight of Obligation to see how the Yukon breaks friendships.
For your book club
- Is the debt of a life saved actually a burden that ruins a partnership?
- Does the anonymity of Mardi Gras allow for true adventure or just dangerous mistakes?