Publisher's Synopsis
Java Head is a novel written by Joseph Hergesheimer. It was first published in 1919 and is set in the late 1800s in New England and China. The book follows the story of a wealthy family, the Varnums, who own a shipping company and are involved in the tea trade with China. The main character is a young woman named Judith Varnum, who falls in love with a Chinese man named Sin Sin Wa. Their relationship is frowned upon by society, and the novel explores themes of racism, classism, and cultural differences. The story also delves into the lives of other members of the Varnum family, including Judith's brother, who struggles with alcoholism, and her father, who is obsessed with the success of his business. Overall, Java Head is a complex and nuanced exploration of the intersection of different cultures and the challenges that arise from these interactions.1918. American novelist Hergesheimer has been called a naturalist writing of the romantic past. He is also the author of short stories, essays, biographies, and the autobiography, From an Old House. Java Head begins: Very late indeed in May, but early in the morning, Laurel Ammidon lay in bed considering two widely different aspects of chairs. The day before she had been eleven, and the comparative maturity of that age had filled her with a moving disdain for certain fanciful thoughts which had given her extreme youth a decidedly novel if not an actually adventurous setting. Until yesterday, almost, she had regarded the various chairs of the house as beings endowed with life and character; she had held conversations with some, and, with a careless exterior not warranted by an inner dread, avoided others in gloomy dusks. All this, now, she contemptuously discarded. Chairs were-chairs, things to sit on, wood and stuffed cushions.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.
