
BOOK THE FIRST THE COMING OF SARGON, KING OF KINGS
CHAPTER THE FIRST The Early Life of Mr. Preemby
CHAPTER THE SECOND Christina Alberta
CHAPTER THE THIRD In Lonsdale Mews
CHAPTER THE FOURTH The Petunia Boarding House
CHAPTER THE FIFTH The Scales Fall from Mr. Preemby’s Eyes
CHAPTER THE SIXTH Christina Alberta Consults a Wise Man
BOOK THE SECOND THE WORLD REJECTS SARGON, KING OF KINGS
CHAPTER THE FIRST Incognito
CHAPTER THE SECOND The Calling of the Disciples
In the bustling streets of post‑World War I London, a modest laundryman named Mr. Preemby finds his world upended by the sudden loss of his wife. Though he inherited the thriving Limpid Stream Laundry through marriage, his true nature leans toward introspection rather than the grind of daily washing. As the city buzzes with new technologies and shifting social tides, Preemby retreats into quiet contemplation, haunted by memories of a charismatic photographer father and the faded grandeur of his late spouse’s family.
His daughter, Christina Alberta, watches her father’s gentle unraveling with a mixture of reverence and concern. Determined to understand the man behind the apron, she turns to a wise, perhaps unconventional, adviser, setting off on a subtle quest that intertwines personal history with the larger currents of a changing London. Their journey hints at hidden legacies and unspoken hopes, inviting listeners to explore a tender slice of early twentieth‑century life.
Language
en
Duration
~11 hours (672K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Original publisher
United States: The Macmillan Company, 1925.
Credits
Tim Lindell, David E. Brown, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)
Release date
Nov 23, 2022
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1866–1946
A master of imaginative fiction, this English writer helped shape modern science fiction while also writing sharp social commentary and sweeping works of history. His stories still feel lively today because they mix bold ideas with very human fears, hopes, and curiosities.
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