Five Tales

Five long stories, including The Apple Tree — a Devon farm girl, an Oxford man walking in spring, and a decision he takes lightly. Galsworthy trained as a barrister, never practised, and met Joseph Conrad aboard a ship where Conrad was first mate; the friendship lasted Conrad's life. These are the best things he did outside the Forsytes, and The Apple Tree is the one that has outlived the Nobel. Sixty plates from 1890 to 1925, among them Henry Scott Tuke and John Lavery, bring the period's harbours, steamers and quiet interiors alongside the stories.