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H. de Vere Stacpoole (1863–1951)

Author of The Blue Lagoon

95+ Works 403 Members 7 Reviews 1 Favorited

About the Author

Disambiguation Notice:

Married Margaret Ann Robson in 1907, and secondly, her sister Florence Robson in 1938 (following Margaret's death).

Series

Works by H. de Vere Stacpoole

The Blue Lagoon (1908) 177 copies
The Beach of Dreams (1930) 15 copies
The Man Who Lost Himself (2009) 14 copies
The Ghost Girl (2010) 12 copies
The Blue Lagoon Omnibus (1908) 9 copies
The Pools of Silence (1923) 8 copies
The Cottage on the Fells (1950) 8 copies
The Garden Of God (2007) 7 copies
Golden Ballast (1924) 5 copies
Goblin Market (1927) 4 copies
Fanny Lambert (2017) 4 copies
The Ship of Coral (1911) 3 copies
The Doctor (1910) 3 copies
The Drums of War (1910) 3 copies
The Children of the Sea (1913) 3 copies
Poppyland (1914) 3 copies
The Pearl Fishers (2001) 2 copies
The Rapin 2 copies
Vanderdecken (1922) 2 copies
Ocean tramps (2021) 2 copies
The Gates of Morning (2011) 2 copies
Sappho - A New Rendering (2013) 2 copies
Murder On The Fell (1951) 2 copies
Love on the Adriatic (1930) 2 copies
Garryowen (2017) 2 copies
Patsy 2 copies
Monsieur De Rochefort (1916) 2 copies
The Order of Release (1912) 2 copies
Sea Plunder 1 copy
A Lagoa Azul 1 copy
A Lagoa Azul 1 copy
Bird Cay 1 copy
Kadjaman 1 copy
Patsy (2017) 1 copy
Bird Cay (1948) 1 copy
The Chank Shell (1920) 1 copy
The Meddler (1919) 1 copy
Pacific Gold 1 copy
Tropic Love 1 copy
The Naked Soul (1933) 1 copy
Men and Mice (1942) 1 copy
More Men and Mice (1945) 1 copy
Men, Women and Beasts (1922) 1 copy
The Return to Spring (1928) 1 copy
Roxanne 1 copy
High Yaller 1 copy
Ginger Adams 1 copy
Poems and Ballads (2014) 1 copy
Byen i havet 1 copy
Fanny Lambert (2021) 1 copy

Associated Works

Continental Crimes (2017) — Contributor — 96 copies
Great Ghost Stories (1936) — Contributor — 67 copies
The Century's Best Horror Fiction Volume 1 (2011) — Contributor — 51 copies
The Mammoth Book of Thrillers, Ghosts and Mysteries (1936) — Contributor — 47 copies
The World's Best One Hundred Detective Stories, Volume 8 (1929) — Contributor — 23 copies
A Century of Detective Stories (1935) — Contributor — 20 copies
Adventure Tales #1 (2004) — Contributor — 12 copies
My Best Detective Story (1931) — Contributor — 9 copies
A Treasury of Great Short Stories — Contributor — 7 copies
My Best Thriller (1947) — Contributor — 5 copies
The Big book of detective stories — Contributor — 4 copies
Best Detective Stories, Second Series — Contributor — 4 copies
Fantastic Novels Magazine, Volume 1, No. 6, March 1948 (1948) — Contributor — 3 copies
Best Stories of the Underworld (1942) — Contributor — 3 copies
Stories of the South Seas (1928) — Contributor — 1 copy
Adventure [Vol. 2 No. 1, May 1911] (1911) — Contributor — 1 copy
Stories for girls — Contributor — 1 copy

Tagged

Common Knowledge

Legal name
Stacpoole, Henry de Vere
Other names
DE SAIX, Tyler (pseudonym)
STACPOOLE, Henry DE VERE
STACPOOLE, H. DE VERE
Birthdate
1863-04-09
Date of death
1951-04-12
Burial location
St. Boniface's Churchyard, Bonchurch, Isle of Wight, UK
Gender
male
Nationality
Ireland
Birthplace
Kingstown, County Dublin, Ireland (Dún Laoghaire | Ireland)
Place of death
Bonchurch, Isle of Wight, England, UK
Relationships
Stacpoole, Mrs H de Vere (wife)
Stacpoole, W H (brother)
Stacpoole, Florence (sister)
Disambiguation notice
Married Margaret Ann Robson in 1907, and secondly, her sister Florence Robson in 1938 (following Margaret's death).

Members

Reviews

Very entertaining. Guy gets swapped into the position of his aristocratic lookalike, who has a rubbish reputation, massive debts, and an estranged wife. The aristocrat then goes off and gets himself killed, leaving the clueless stranger (Jones) to carry his name and make whatever he can of this dubious life. Fortunately, Jones is bold and decisive, just the man to redeem a reputation that had gone to the dogs. (If he can also handle the lunatic asylum he gets thrown into.)
 
Flagged
Alishadt | Feb 25, 2023 |
I have read many of the classic “ship wrecked on a desert isle” books including Swiss Family Robinson and The Coral Island but somehow I had missed The Blue Lagoon by Henry de Vere Stacpoole. I had the idea that this book was written more as a salacious look at two young people discovering sex, but in actuality, I found this to be a fascinating story of survival.

Two young cousins, Dick and Emmeline are stranded on a remote South Pacific Island. They are cared for by an elderly Irish sailor, Paddy Button, who teaches them the art of survival. Paddy dies after two years on the island when the children are about thirteen. Distraught and uncertain, they carry on without him, living well on fruits they gather and fish they catch. Another few years pass and during this time the children mature and, yes, do discover each other sexually. This is handled very discreetly and Emmeline goes on to have a baby. Meanwhile Dick’s father has never given up hope that the children are alive and continues his search for them.

Originally published in 1908, this is a short book with a lot of story packed into it. The author himself had spent time at sea in the South Pacific so his descriptions were accurate and his writing lyrical. Parts of the story were quite dated and parts required the reader the stretch his imagination (I am thinking of Emmeline giving birth), but I particularly loved the ambiguous ending. The Blue Lagoon was a very good read and deserves a place of honor on my Desert Island shelf.
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DeltaQueen50 | 3 other reviews | Nov 22, 2021 |
If I didn’t know beforehand that this was first published in 1898, I would’ve guessed it was penned no earlier than the 1950s. Although it doesn’t feel like a modern novel, it feels ahead of its time owing to the way it’s written.

The author creates a vivid picture of what’s going on without being over-descriptive. For most of the time, we see life from the lead female character’s viewpoint, who is in no way one-dimensional.

This story is not likely to leave any reader scared out of their wits, but the tone is notably eerie for much of the time. The supernatural element involves a long-standing curse and two of the characters having flashbacks of themselves as different people living about 200 years earlier. The author manages to convey all this very well.

The first half or more of the book gripped me, and although the last few chapters were engaging, they didn’t hold me in the same way, which is why I've rated it four stars instead of five.
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PhilSyphe | Oct 30, 2020 |
I watched the movie a long time ago, and though I don't say this often, I like the movie better than the book. I felt that the additional dialogue in the movie made the story better, and that parts of the book felt rushed. Still, I'm so glad I own the book and will be reading it again.
 
Flagged
book_lady15 | 3 other reviews | Apr 3, 2020 |

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Statistics

Works
95
Also by
21
Members
403
Popularity
#60,270
Rating
½ 3.7
Reviews
7
ISBNs
112
Languages
5
Favorited
1

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