The Captives

Hugh WalpolePan Macmillan1920

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Word count: 117.5K words
Chapters: 32
Series: The Captives (1920) is the third volume of Hugh Walpole's "The Rising City" trilogy, preceded by The Duchess of Wrexe and The Green Mirror. The novel is divided into four parts—"The Start," "The Chariot of Fire," "The Witch," and "The Return"—and follows the coming-of-age of the young Maggie Cardinal. The novel opens with the sudden death of Maggie's father, Charles Cardinal, an elderly, miserly, and slovenly Anglican clergyman whose estate, to general surprise, passes largely to his cook. Nineteen-year-old Maggie, almost wholly inexperienced in the world, is forced to take refuge with two elderly aunts in London, moving into an old house she finds prison-like and subject to the emotional claims of a chronically ill relative who begs her to "stay until she dies." At the meeting house of the Kingscote Brethren—a small, closed sect supported by her aunts—Maggie meets Martin Warlock, the dissolute son of a preacher, and the two are drawn to each other. Yet the strict atmosphere of the sect, their separate pasts, and mutual misunderstandings keep the relationship from taking root: Martin, haunted by a sin he believes he has committed and by his father's death, leaves her, while Maggie, in her loneliness, marries Paul Trenchard, an Anglican clergyman who truly loves her but receives only "companionship without passion" in return, and endures a stifled married life in a seaside parish. Taking a sentence from William James as his epigraph, Walpole makes captivity a multiple metaphor: the prisoner bound by a relative's selfishness, the prisoner confined by old faith and dogma, the prisoner locked in by temperament and circumstance. Through minute psychological observation and a somber, restrained style, the novel traces how one woman comes to recognize herself amid loss, loneliness, and love.

Summary

The Captives (1920) is the third novel in Hugh Walpole's The Rising City trilogy, following The Duchess of Wrexe and The Green Mirror. Divided into four parts—"The Start," "Chariot of Fire," "The Witch," and "The Return"—it traces the coming-of-age of a young woman named Maggie Cardinal.

The novel opens with the sudden death of Maggie's father, Charles Cardinal, an elderly, miserly, and slovenly Anglican clergyman who leaves the bulk of his estate to his cook. At nineteen, utterly unworldly, Maggie is forced to take refuge with two elderly aunts in London, where she moves into a gloomy old house that feels to her like a prison and finds herself bound by the emotional demands of a chronically ill relative who extracts from her a promise to "stay until she dies."

At the meeting house of the Kingscote Brethren, a narrow sect her aunts support, Maggie meets Martin Warlock, the dissolute son of a preacher, and the two are drawn to each other. Yet the strict atmosphere of the sect, their respective pasts, and misunderstandings keep the relationship from taking root: Martin, tormented by what he believes to be his own sin and by his father's death, leaves her, and Maggie, in her loneliness, marries Paul Trenchard, an Anglican clergyman whose genuine love for her wins only "passionless companionship" in return, and settles into a stifled married life in a seaside parish.

Taking a sentence from William James as his epigraph, Walpole treats imprisonment as a many-layered metaphor: captivity to the selfish claims of family, captivity to old forms of faith and dogma, captivity to temperament and circumstance. Through meticulous psychological portraiture and a sombre, restrained tone, the novel follows one woman's struggle to find her own identity amid loss, solitude, and love.

Editor's review

《囚徒》常被放在沃尔波尔“家族与信仰”主题的脉络里读：如果说《绿镜子》写的是“家庭里的奴役”，这一部写的则是“信仰与亲情联手织成的网”。它不靠情节奇观取胜，而是靠氛围——伦敦旧宅的沉闷、小教派聚会所里那种混杂着真诚与做作的狂热、海滨教区的精神死寂，都被写得近乎逼人。值得留意的是作者的分寸感。他并不把教派人物一律写成骗子或恶人，而是让“江湖气”与“炽热的信念”并置，使批判落在机制而非漫画化的个人身上；保罗·特伦查德这一“情敌”也被写得极为可敬，几乎是小说的道德重心。1920年《笨拙》杂志的书评称其四百七十页“写得够大”，也抱怨不幸堆得太满——这恰是它作为时代心理小说的标本价值。对中文读者而言，这本书是理解一战后英国小说如何从维多利亚传统过渡到现代心理写实的合适样本：节制的第三人称、对内心波动的耐心追踪、对宗教社会学的兴趣，都能在毛姆、福斯特乃至后来的英国小说里找到回声。

Who it's for

A good fit for

喜欢19世纪末至20世纪初英国小说的读者，尤其偏爱哈代、乔治·艾略特一路的社会与心理写实。
对宗教派别、家庭结构与个人自由之关系感兴趣，愿意读“氛围型”而非情节型小说的读者。
正在系统阅读英文名著、想补上沃尔波尔这类被现代主义叙事史略过的畅销作家的人。
研究一战后英国小说转型、关注“反抗传统”主题的研究者与文学专业学生。

Not a good fit for

期待快节奏、强反转情节或悬疑元素的读者，本书推进缓慢，悲剧感持续累积。
对宗教议题、教派描写缺乏兴趣，且不愿进入19世纪末英国乡村与伦敦中产生活语境的读者。
刚开始读英文原著、词汇量与长句耐力有限的入门读者，470页的篇幅与时代语汇会形成障碍。

Reading tips

先读卷首威廉·詹姆斯的题记，把它当作全书主题的钥匙：信仰是“真实的战斗”，而非可以随时退场的私人戏码。
注意“囚徒”一词的多重所指：亲情、教派、婚姻、性情，边读边记录玛吉每次“被留下”的选择。
可将本书与《绿镜子》对读，比较“家庭的奴役”与“信仰的奴役”两种写法，理解三部曲的整体构思。
读毕回头重看第四部《归途》三章的标题，体会作者如何用“暗室—妖怪—生命的胜利”完成心理上的收束。

About the publisher

Pan Macmillan

Pan Macmillan is a publisher known for general-interest reading and books on personal growth and inspiration. It currently has one title in our database, The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. This representative book suggests that the publisher values works combining literary quality with life lessons, and is adept at linking classic storytelling with themes of growth for a broad general readership. Because public information is limited, its full publishing scope, series and author lineup cannot be presented in full; based solely on the title in our database, it emphasizes classic texts of enduring influence in the personal growth category and builds on its author resources to sustain this direction.

Part One: The Start
Chapter One: The Death of the Reverend Charles Cardinal
Chapter Two: Aunt Anne
Chapter Three: The House in London
Chapter Four: The Meeting House
Part Two: The Chariot of Fire
Chapter One: The Warlocks
Chapter Two: Anticipation
Chapter Three: Maggie and Martin
Chapter Four: Mr. Crashaw
Chapter Five: The Choice
Chapter Six: The Prophet in His Own Country
Chapter Seven: The Outside World
Chapter Eight: Paradise
Chapter Nine: The Inner Saints
Chapter Ten: The Prophet
Chapter Eleven: The Chariot of Fire
Part Three: The Witch
Chapter One: Three Visits
Chapter Two: Falling into the Other Half
Chapter Three: Skelton-by-the-Sea
Chapter Four: Grace
Chapter Five: The Battle of Skelton (First Year)
Chapter Six: The Battle of Skelton (Second Year)
Chapter Seven: The Death of Aunt Anne
Chapter Eight: The Death of Uncle Matthew
Chapter Nine: Paul's Soul
Chapter Ten: Revival
Part Four: The Return
Chapter One: The Dark Room
Chapter Two: The Monster
Chapter Three: The Victory of Life

FAQ

《The Captives》是谁的作品，属于哪个系列？

它是英国作家休·沃尔波尔（Hugh Walpole，1884—1941）1920年由伦敦Macmillan出版的长篇小说，副题“a novel in four parts”。它是作者“上升之城”（The Rising City）三部曲的第三部，前两部为《雷克斯公爵夫人》和《绿镜子》。

这本书有通行的中文译本吗？

目前未见流传广泛的简体中文全译本，中文世界多以英文原著或“囚徒”这一译名流传。若需引用，建议以Macmillan 1920年初版或Project Gutenberg电子版（EBook #3601）为底本，并自行标注译名。

书名“囚徒”指的是谁？

不止一人。玛吉被亲人的情感索取与封闭教派所困，马丁被早年的宗教训练与自身“罪感”所困，书中还有被境遇、性情或观念锁住的人物。沃尔波尔用复数式的“captivities”写一种普遍的束缚状态。

读这本书需要宗教背景知识吗？

不需要专业神学知识，但了解19世纪末英国国教与小教派（如各类“弟兄会”）并存的格局会更顺。书中“金斯柯特弟兄会”是虚构教派，作者刻意写成真诚与江湖气混杂的团体。

全书篇幅和阅读难度如何？

Macmillan初版约470页、xii页前言，按电子文本估算约11.7万英文词。句子偏长、心理描写密集、时代语汇较多，属中等偏上难度，适合有一定英文长篇小说阅读经验的读者。

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