Clarissa Oakes (1992)

I've mentioned before that a series of naval tales stuck in a perpetual 1812 and following the exploits of two individuals that is staggering on past double figures in terms of volumes must run in to problems of repetition and consequently risk dullness.

THIS REVIEW HAS BEEN CURTAILED IN PROTEST AT GOODREADS' CENSORSHIP POLICY

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http://arbieroo.booklikes.com/post/334789/post ( )

Published in England under the title Clarissa Oakes ( )

Clarissa Oakes, Patrick O’Brian’s fifteenth book in his Aubrey-Maturin series, picks up shortly after the events of The Nutmeg of Consolation, with Captain Jack Aubrey and the crew of the Suprise having departed from Australia with two unexpected new passengers: Stephen’s former assistant, Padeen, who had been transported to Australia in lieu of a death sentence for attacking a man while in the throes of addiction to laudanum; and Clarissa Harvill, brought aboard by Midshipman Oakes.

The broad plot focuses on Aubrey and the Surprise traveling to Moahu, where they will aid Queen Puolani against a rival claimant to the throne, Kalahua, who has allied himself with the French and captured the crew of the English whaler Truelove. Along the way, they stop and resupply at Annamooka in Tonga, offering O’Brian the opportunity to further explore Polynesian culture. While this sets the plot in motion, much of the story explores shipboard life and the complications that can arise due to jealousies and rivalries with a midshipman’s wife aboard. The novel also continues the circumnavigation of the globe that began in The Thirteen Gun Salute and will end in The Commodore.

Like the previous eight novels, Clarissa Oakes exists outside the normal flow of time – this novel being the ninth of eleven to exist in what O’Brian described as an extended 1812, with these books taking place between the beginning of June 1813 and November 1813. Those looking for a perfect chronology are advised to simply enjoy the story and the way in which O’Brian perfectly recreates the world of the Napoleonic Wars, using Aubrey and Stephen’s activities to comment on the rapid changes occurring in this era and the passage of time in the series’ internal chronology. Interestingly, the U.S. edition changed the title to The Truelove, after the British whaling vessel that appears near the end. This Folio Society edition reprints the original text with insets containing historical portraits and sketches to illustrate some of the scenes. ( )

In which Aubrey suspects something gravely amiss with his crew, and finds his efforts to confirm are frustrated both by naval tradition and his own history as a mid. Maturin endeavours to find sanctuary in Australia for two rescued children, thereby stumbling upon secrets closer to England. Leaving Botany Bay and ostensibly bound for South America, the Surprises again find themselves waylaid by a proxy war in Moahu (Sandwich Islands).

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Clarissa Oakes related by marriage to Midshipman Oakes, in fact wed by Martin at sea in order to avoid deportation should the cutter following Surprise be hunting absconders.

The original "mini-series" starts with Volume 11 (mission to Chile & Peru), they are waylaid these several volumes.

Events pick up immediately after The Nutmeg of Consolation and close a number of months later, in the same quarter of the globe. ( )

Stephen and Captain Aubrey continue their adventures on the high seas. This book is, like all the rest, full of beautifully understated but rich character moments. ( )