The Wapshot Chronicle (Masterplots, Revised Second Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: John Cheever
- First Published: 1957
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Social realism
- Time of Work: 1890’s-1950’s
- Setting: St. Botolphs, Massachusetts; Washington; New York; and a rocket-launching station
- Principal Characters: Leander Wapshot, Sarah Wapshot, Moses, Coverly, Melissa, Betsey, Honora Wapshot, Justina Wapshot Molesworth Scaddon, Rosalie Young
- Genres: Long fiction, Social realism, Regional fiction, Family literature, Satire
- Subjects: Family or family life, New York, North America or North Americans, Northeast, U.S., United States or Americans, Tradition, Love or romance, Suicide, Twentieth century, Nineteenth century, New York City, New England, Washington, D.C., Life, philosophy of, Eccentrics or eccentricities, Boats or boating
- Locales: New York, NY, Washington, D.C., St. Botolphs, MA
The Story:
St. Botolphs had been a bustling, prosperous river port in the days of the Massachusetts clipper fleets. It was currently, however, kept alive by a few small industries and by summer visitors. It was a moribund port town with a tourist center of antique stores, gift shops, and tearooms quaintly decorated by the handcrafted artifacts of an older seafaring and agricultural United States.
Leander’s home, West Farm, cluttered with the memories and the possessions of dead and gone Wapshots, was an image of a good past and an uncertain present. The Wapshots, like...
[The entire page is 1854 words long]
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