
"Well, I mean there's Davenham now and—"
The Loom of Youth - ALEC WAUGH - Methuen
Dedicatory Letter to Arthur Waugh
PREFACE TO NEW EDITION
BOOK I: WARP AND WOOF
CHAPTER I: GROPING
CHAPTER II: FINDING HIS FEET
CHAPTER III: THE NEW PHILOSOPHY
CHAPTER IV: NEW FACES
CHAPTER V: EMERGING
A fresh boy named Gordon arrives at Fernhurst, a public school where the blue‑and‑gold ribbon of the Fifteen marks the line between respect and contempt. In the dining hall, he overhears the sharp disdain aimed at Davenham, a quiet student obsessed with fossils, while the celebrated athlete Meredith basks in the glory of victories and whispered rumors. The school's culture, driven by games and gossip, feels alien to Gordon, whose previous education taught him that sport was only a means to strengthen the body.
As he navigates the maze of lockers, cricket fields, and endless debates about honor, Gordon begins to sense that the true test lies beyond the pitch. Friendships form in unexpected corners, and the old codes of conduct start to crack under the weight of youthful ambition. The novel captures the tension between tradition and change, offering a vivid portrait of a young mind searching for belonging while the world of Fernhurst insists on its own relentless rhythm.
Language
en
Duration
~10 hours (577K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by Kathryn Lybarger, Josephine Paolucci and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
Release date
2006-07-18
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1898–1981
Best known for candid school stories, wide-ranging travel books, and the novel that became the film Island in the Sun, this prolific British writer built a career that lasted more than sixty years. His work often mixed sharp social observation with a restless curiosity about places, people, and changing ways of life.
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