Alone on a Wide Wide Sea by William Clark Russell

Aboard a ship bound for England, Agnes Lee lives in a state of anxious suspension: ill, isolated, and haunted by the blankness of her own past. While passengers trade literary opinions and watch one another with growing unease, Captain Ladmore draws her into grave confidences about Alice Lee's failing health and the fragile future awaiting her ashore. That uncertainty sharpens when he reveals that Mr. Harris has asked him to sound out her feelings for a marriage proposal. Horrified by the idea, Agnes recoils with an instinctive revulsion she cannot explain, and Mrs. Lee begins to suspect that this rejection may point to a buried history—perhaps even a husband and children Agnes has forgotten. As sunset, storm, and quiet deck scenes heighten the novel's atmosphere, Agnes is left searching her own face and memory for clues. Meanwhile, a newspaper notice and a circulated article about a woman found after a wreck offer public hints of her lost identity, but the replies bring only more mystery. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.