‘ I see Romance here as the bloom on things that are strange. There are a lot of other matters dealt with in the tale , but Romance vs Reality is the leit-motif , from the first to the last’ . So wrote Priestley in 1933 .
Against all expectations, provincial unfulfilled young Suffolk brewer William, is presented by his Uncle Baldwin an opportunity to make a fortune from an unmapped mysterious island in the Pacific. But first he must find the old man’s companions who possess the missing co-ordinates, and with whom he will shortly set off across the world to discover as much about love as adventure.
First published in 1932 , this romantic escapade is the next novel after the very successful Angel Pavement . J.B. actually travelled to Tahiti to research the story and it comes as quite a contrast to the claustrophobic urban world described in the previous book about life in London. Apart from the very human stories of love and loss , Faraway gives a fascinating view into the Polynesia of that time , when access to remote Pacific destinations could be counted in weeks and months rather than days or even hours. Moreover there is clue to J.B.’s future time spent working with Hollywood studios , when the protagonist comes across a cynical scriptwriter working on location with a movie crew. As ever there are wider and deeper themes explored beneath the obvious narrative. It is remarkable how it has been often overlooked .
J.B PRIESTLEY 