AN UTOPIAN PLACE OF LOTUS EATING AND PAPER MONEY HAWTREY, George Procter.

Caramella. A story of the lotus eaters up to date.

First edition of this utopian novel exploring the bliss of Caramella. Caramella is a land visited by Odysseus who sent crew members ashore, where they consumed the lotus fruit and became addicted, ‘forgetting all thoughts of return’ (Odyssey, book nine). In Hawtrey’s novel, this fruit makes Caramella an island of utopian bliss, in which little work is required: ‘the fruit-gatherers struck for a three hours’ day, and of course claimed an hour for dinner in the middle’. This utopian world is used as a contrast to European society. Caramella thrives under a system of paper money separated from gold reserves - this removes the need for national debt or taxation as money is simply printed as required. Inflation is apparently unknown. Additionally, Hawtrey uses the island to attack militarism. The Caramese disdain soldiers, who are not received in polite society, as ‘the very idea of strife was utterly repugnant to the national character’.