The Beach of Falesa

About This Book

The Beach of Falesa is a novella by Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894), set on a South Pacific island where a British trader named Wiltshire arrives to find that the previous trader has died under suspicious circumstances. Wiltshire's attempts to establish his business are undermined by a rival trader named Case, who controls the islanders through a combination of trickery and fear. Written during Stevenson's final years in Samoa, the story is notable for its sympathetic portrayal of Pacific Islanders and its unflinching depiction of the exploitation and racism of colonial trade. Stevenson considered it his finest short fiction. The work is in the public domain.

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