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Frank Richard Stockton (1834 to 1902) was an American writer of mainly short stories, many of which were very popular, innovative children's fairy tales. But he is still best-known even today because his short story, The Lady or the Tiger? shows up in almost every collection of classic American short stories. Anyone older than about 40 has almost certainly read this story in school. It still should be read!
Stockton was also known as a humorist because he was, well, a very funny writer! This is seen in the book reviewed here, The Casting Away of Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine. It was popular when it was published in 1886 but has been mainly forgotten today – but it shouldn’t be! Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine are two well-off widows from Middle America who are going on a steamship voyage from San Francisco to Yokohama, Japan. It is interesting to note that this would be a similar ship that Jules Verne’s fictional Phileas Fogg took, in the opposite direction in 1872, in his 80-day trip around the world. The ship sinks and the two widows escape and are stranded on a seemingly-deserted island in the Pacific. Their adventures go on from there, narrated by a young man, Mr. Craig, their staunch defender who both admires them and is at times amused by them. If you like desert island stories and like to laugh, this is the book for you. The reading level is middle school or higher.