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    Moonfleet
    Moonfleet
    Moonfleet
    Audiobook7 hours

    Moonfleet

    Written by J. Meade Falkner

    Narrated by Cathy Dobson

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    About this audiobook

    J. Meade Falkener's timeless classic adventure story of smugglers, hidden treasure, mysterious ghosts and daring escapes. Written in 1898, the story has remained a much loved classic among children and adults alike, owing to its gripping storyline, sympathetic characters and swift narrative pace.

    The village of Moonfleet has been dominated by the Mohune dynasty for centuries. And even though the family has died out, according to local rumour, the ghost of the most evil of them, nicknamed Blackbeard, stalks the churchyard in search of his lost treasure.

    One night, following a heavy storm, the churchyard is flooded...and the next Sunday, strange eerie banging noises are heard from the Mohune vault under the church. While the rest of the congregation flees in terror, young John Trenchard is curious. And when he visits the churchyard again, to see whether the dead Mohunes are still making noises, he discovers a crack in the earth which leads to an underground tunnel.

    Convinced that this discovery will lead him to Blackbeard's treasure, he determines to return at night with a candle and explore. The tunnel leads direct into the Mohune vault...and John Trenchard finds himself unexpectedly in the middle of a smugglers' den...just as the smugglers themselves are arriving with their new cargo.

    Hiding behind one of the old Mohune coffins, John embarks on a series of adventures which will change the course of his life forever.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRed Door Consulting
    Release dateOct 21, 2013
    ISBN9781467669610
    Author

    J. Meade Falkner

    John Meade Falkner was an English novelist and poet he was also an extremely successful and well educated businessman.

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    Reviews for Moonfleet

    4/5

    213 ratings15 reviews

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    • 4/5
      I LOVED IT! But mostly I loved Johnny and elsevir bond
    • 4/5
      I was sure I had previously read this in Grade 8 but barely remembered any of it. What's with that? Coles Notes? I don't imagine it's assigned anymore, given a section on a conniving Jewish jeweller. It is a wonderful tale, though, and my Folio Society edition, beautifully illustrated by Michael Manomivibul, helped warm quite a few winter nights.
    • 4/5
      An adventure story, told from a boy's point of view, in 18th century England.  Set on the Dover coast, it is initially a story of smugglers, in Moonfleet bay. John Trenchard is about 12, a curious boy, who stumbles into a crypt that is a holding area for smugglers of wine from France.  He is there to look for the Mohune treasure, and finds a locket in a casket, but has to be rescued by the smugglers, particularly Elvezir Block, a taciturn man who lost his son during a revenuer's attack on the smuggling.  He adopts John, they continue the smuggling, but are found out, accused of killing the magistrate, hide in a Dover cliff cave.  John figures out a riddle in a poem in the locket, and they find the treasure, but are cheated of it in Holland, end up in prison gangs, and are finally released during a storm that wrecks them in Moonfleet bay.  Elzevir dies rescuing John, in the end, John gets restitution from the cheat in Holland, and relates the tale as a rich man.  I found it a bit hard at the beginning, later a good tale.
    • 4/5
      The story of a boy's adventures. It has a good pace and rhythym, and I found both characters and events well-written. However, I did find the book a bit disjointed somehow. It's composed of three intertwined stories - a minor love story, a treasure hunt, and the story of our hero's induction into smuggling in a small town. I felt like they didn't quite mesh, partly because the treasure elements were quite melodramatic, while the rest was fairly plain even when dramatic things unfolded. Nevertheless, I enjoyed it.
    • 4/5
      This was quite a well-known book when I was a child, but, for some reason, I never got round to reading it. So I’ve been repairing a childhood omission.In a small way, this is a bit of a Bildungsroman – a depiction of a boy’s journey into manhood – and there is quite a moral spine to the story; but it’s not at all preachy, with nothing there to frighten off impatient adolescents, I think.There isn’t really much structure or depth to it and, at base, it’s just a boys’ adventure story with tales of smugglers and a search for hidden treasure and gripping adventures in hidden tunnels or on the sea. Having said that, it’s quite well-written and up with the best of its kind, I’d say. I found it quite absorbing and I found the hero’s eventual, dramatic return home quite lump-in-the-throat moving.I note that it’s still in print, and in a number of editions, and deservedly so, I think. It well deserves to be regarded as at least a minor classic of its genre.
    • 4/5
      A splendid children's adventure book. Secret passages, lost treasure, legends of ghosts and curses -- all things I dreamed about as a boy.
    • 5/5
      I have fond memories from School of this book and although it was one of the books I was forced to read it still ranks as one of the best books I have read and so from memory I gave it 4 stars. I have just re-read it and have reconsidered my rating. It now gets 5 stars! An absolute page turning delight, still as exciting now as it was then. I guess the repeated and rather heavy handed signposting about evil spirits from evil deeds clinging to a certain something jars a little but it is a very, very small criticism of an otherwise hugely enjoyable book and definitely goes on my “books I will read to my children whether they like it or not” list that I am slowly compiling in my head just in case that happy event ever happens!
    • 3/5
      One of the classic Victorian adventure stories. Very similar in many ways to Robert Louis Stevenson's "Treasure Island" (both narrated by teenage boys living in inns in coastal villages). And, again like Treasure Island, I imagine it was written primarily with a young audience. However, I found it thoroughly entertaining - it obviously appealed to the barely-concealed boy in me!
    • 5/5
      smugglers, graveyard, secret tunnels, hidden treasure, suspense - all the ingredients of a great adventure story; I lived it and loved it.
    • 4/5
      We spent a weekend in Moonfleet a few weeks ago - which is nice because I probably would never have read this otherwise. It's been sat on the bookshelf ever since I got a bit too keen on Penguin Classics when they came out and bought all sorts of things I haven't yet read. To be honest the blurb didn't really do this justice and I thought it looked a bit dull. The writing style was quite fluid and it was an easy read. I liked the character progression and the way the lead characters aged and developed. It was a bit frustrating that Falkner often wrote sentences like "I won't go in to that to much now but...". Used sparsely it's a good way to get the reader's imagination going but when overused it was a bit annoying. Overall though really enjoyed it and liked the descriptions of that part of Chesil Beach.
    • 2/5
      This book is John's adventure story. But various develop is interesting. And I like the sceen he found diamond.
    • 4/5
      John Trenchard lived in the village named Moonfleet. He finds a secret passage under the church a certain day. His life changes a little on the day. I recommend this book for person who loves adventure.While reading, I was really excited.The end of story is good, too.
    • 5/5
      This story is very exciting.First,I thoght it a horror story.But It is not a horror story.The main character,John,became happy in the end.I think everyone can enjoy this book.
    • 5/5
      John try to be rich by seeking a diamond. It's very thrilling story. I like it. This story's ending was very good. John become rich and spent money for other village people. Besides he can marry a woman he loved.
    • 4/5
      This is one of the lesser-known classics of the late 19th century and suffers somewhat from being often regarded as primarily a children's book with little to offer the adult reader.Even if that were true it is still an engrossing story. In practice it is more than just that, running together the stories of the young, impulsive and thoughtless narrator John Trenchard and the older, enigmatic and ultimately Christ-like Elzevir Block who allows himself to be carried along on the tide Trenchard's immature fancies and greed.This one deserves to be more widely read that it is.