Quarterdeck [Hardcover]

Julian Stockwin has grown in his Kydd series and I was most happy to read his latest offering. Although it is not to the high standard that the late Patrick O'Brien has set, it was certainly an enjoyable read. The plot sometimes seems improbable and contrived, but the humanity of Kydd shines through and I found myself rooting for the character throughout. Kydd has a particularly American appeal as a commoner among the gentry triumphing in spite of his humble beginnings, but shines through as an unmistakably British stout heart of oak. I look forward to the next installment.

I ordered this title after finishing Mutiny, the previous book of the series. I consider that title one the better Stockwin novels in the way it integrated the hero, Thomas Kydd, into the momentous events of the Royal Navy's history. Unfortunately, I find that quality missing in Quarterdeck. The novel begins well enough but Thomas Kydd's concerns about being a 'gentleman' seems to me a thin thread on which to hang a narrative. I don't believe the theme was treated with enough depth to sustain the novel. I've been reading through Vanity Fair at the same time which deals much better with the vagaries of the English class system.
Later episodes of the story don't help the book either. The commando style derring-do of the French privateer's sabotage borders on the incredulous. Stockwin does his research, so I might be wrong there. The episode aboard the USS Constellation following the privateer incident is just as bothersome. Thomas Truxtun was known to be obsessed with his stature and idea of him treating with a British junior lieutenant is a bit far-fetched. Benjamin Stoddert, the US Secretary of the Navy, did exchange some signalling information with the British Admiral Vandeput in July, 1798 and a novelist is free to imagine the circumstances of the exchange, but I had hoped for a little more creative imagination.
I was happy when this series started; it's about time that someone wrote about the common sailors in the Age of Sail instead of the silk-stocking officer corps. After all, they were the ones who did most of the fighting and most of the dying, but this series seems to suffer from hasty composition and plotting. Still, it was engaging enough;I did manage to finish the novel instead of hurling it across the room. I can't say that about some others I've tried to read. After Mutiny, I had greater expectations and was disappointed. I don't know if I want to read further.

Thomas Kydd has survived the Battle of Camperdown, arriving back home as an acting lieutenant. In wartime, men could advance by their abilities. The novel opens with Kydd being examined for a commission. He does have a champion on the examining board. Having obtained his step up to lieutenant, he is taken in hand by his friend Renzi for training to be a gentlemen. In that regard, his sister Cecilia, now a companion of Lady Stanhope, takes a hand. But when Thomas reports back aboard ship, he finds that the captain is an upperclass prig who does not want tarpaulin lieutenants on "his ship." (That upperclass attitude is reflected in the novels of Frederick Marryat, written in the early 19th century, and did exist in the Royal Navy). The captain attempts to have him removed without success (one can wonder what is left unsaid; was the captain told, perhaps, that Thomas was a friend of Lord Stanhope and known to Admiral Onslow?). In any case, Thomas stays on board, for better or for worse.

Action proceeds, and Thomas finds he can no longer be "one of the guys" before the mast and, at the same time, he does not fit in well with the "gentlemen" officers, having no small talk about foxhunting, society, etc. Thomas makes a few gaffes, getting some unwanted attention from the Admiral, but also distinguishes himself in some detached duties.

He finds himself seconded as a naval observer to the fledgling United States Navy, and making some acquaintances that may show up in the future. Returning to the squadron in Halifax, he obtains some detached duty doing a hydrographic survey, and makes a chance acquaintance with a mysterious, very beautiful young woman whom he invites as his companion to a state function in Halifax which he must attend. That leads to some unexpected results and a sudden rise in social status.

We will have to wait for the sequels to see what further adventures the author has in mind for Thomas.

The novel is generally well researched. My main complaint is that the author seems to have Thomas zipping about at a time when transportation was notoriously slow. Perhaps a few too many adventures in too short a time. The late Patrick O'Brien seemed to have that problem in his novels, but perhaps we can give the author a little literary license. Richard Woodman is generally the best in defining the passage of time in his Drinkwater novels. The present novel might have been aided by the inclusion of a couple or three maps of the areas of action.