On the Makaloa Mat

Beneath the palms of a fading Hawaiian aristocracy, an old woman remembers the great love and greater heartbreak of her youth -- and that's just the first of eight stories in Jack London's final, most tender collection. On the Makaloa Mat gathers London's late-career short fiction set among the islands he loved best: tales of interracial romance, colonial change, leprosy and exile, and the slow disappearance of a Hawaii that once was. Gone is the brute survivalism of his Yukon stories -- in its place, a quieter, more reflective London, writing with real affection for the people and places of the Pacific. Long overshadowed by his adventure novels, this collection reveals a writer at the height of his emotional and technical powers. Eight short stories set in early 20th-century Hawaii London's most mature, character-driven writing A vivid, compassionate portrait of a vanishing world Unroll the mat and listen -- the old stories are the best ones.