The Sailor's Return

The Sailor’s Return (1925) is a novel by David Garnett. Published several years after Garnett was awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and the Hawthornden Prize for Lady into Fox (1922), his fourth novel explores themes of race and empire while showcasing the author’s original—and often controversial—literary style. “He was in no hurry to go ashore, and waited half an hour for the confusion to be straightened out on board, and the turmoil to subside on land, before he motioned to the young negro who accompanied him to bear a hand with a large basket of woven grass.” Arriving home in Dorset, England aboard the Duke of Kent, mariner William Targett brings a young African woman and child with him. Soon, the hostile townspeople discover that the woman is not only William’s wife, but that he is the father of her child. Despite their love, despite their attempts to live peacefully, the racist attitudes of Targett’s countrymen make it impossible to live safely in England, and soon lead to unspeakable tragedy. This edition of David Garnett’s The Sailor’s Return is a classic work of British literature reimagined for modern readers.

Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book.

With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.