Book description
Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin tales are widely acknowledged to be
the greatest series of historical novels ever written. Now, for the
first time, they are available in electronic book format, so a whole new
generation of readers can be swept away on the adventure of a lifetime.
This is the fifteenth book in the series.
All the elements that have made Patrick O'Brian's astonishing series
one of the most highly praised works in contemporary fiction are here in
Clarissa Oakes - the narrative grip, the impeccable ear for dialogue,
the humour and the unsurpassed capacity to create and recreate a rich
and true friendship between two men in the late eighteenth-century.
Captain Jack Aubrey sails away from the hated Australian prison
colonies in his favourite vessel the Surprise, pondering on middle age
and sexual frustration. He soon becomes aware that he is out of touch
with the mood of his ship: to his astonishment he finds that in spite of
a lifetime's experience he does not know what the foremost hands or even
his own officers are thinking. They know, as he does not, that the
Surprise has a stranger aboard: and what they, for their part, do not
know is that the stranger is potentially as dangerous as a light in the
powder magazine itself. '…full of the energy that comes from a writer
having struck a vein… Patrick O'Brian is unquestionably the Homer of the
Napoleonic wars.' James Hamilton- Paterson
'You are in for the treat of your lives. Thank God for Patrick O'Brian:
his genius illuminates the literature of the English language, and
lightens the lives of those who read him.' Kevin Myers, Irish Times
'In a highly competitive field it goes straight to the top. A real
first-rater.' Mary Renault
'I never enjoyed a novel about the sea more. It is not only that the
author describes the handling of a ship of 1800 with an accuracy that is
as comprehensible as it is detailed, a remarkable feat in itself. Mr
O'Brian's three chief characters are drawn with no less depth of
sympathy than the vessels he describes, a rare achievement save in the
greatest writers of this genre. It deserves the widest readership.'
Irish Times Patrick O'Brian, until his death in 2000, was one of our
greatest contemporary novelists. He is the author of the acclaimed
Aubrey-Maturin tales and the biographer of Joseph Banks and Picasso. He
is the author of many other books including Testimonies, and his
Collected Short Stories. In 1995 he was the first recipient of the
Heywood Hill Prize for a lifetime's contribution to literature. In the
same year he was awarded the CBE. In 1997 he received an honorary
doctorate of letters from Trinity College, Dublin. He lived for many
years in South West France and he died in Dublin in January 2000.
