The Truelove
Published: 1992
Author: Patrick O'Brian
Book 15 of 21: Aubrey/Maturin Novels
Genres: Action, Adventure, British & Irish, Contemporary, Family Life, Fiction, Historical, Literary, Literature, Medical, Military, Navel, Saga, Sea, Suspense, Thriller, Travel, War
Check the summary of this book here:
The Truelove Summary
The Review:
Patrick O'Brian’s “The Truelove” also called “Clarissa Oakes” is the fifteenth book in the Aubrey/Maturin series about unlikely friends Capt. Aubrey and Dr. Maturin during the Napoleonic period maintains the series' history. It demonstrates the author's extensive awareness of the world of the time, both at sea and on land. It is likewise ingeniously structured, with an auxiliary person, Clarissa, providing the missing piece of an espionage jigsaw that has preoccupied Dr. Maturin for the past six novels.
Aubrey is considerably more action-oriented, whereas Maturin is more focused on psycho/social observations. The focus of most of the internal dialogue shifts to letters sent by Aubrey and Maturin to their respective spouses. This style appeals to me more than the author's usual method of expressing what is going on in the minds of the characters. The author has done this previously, but this time it is done really effectively. Maturin mostly keeps a diary, and his letters to his wife are outrageously brief.
I know there were some readers who were disappointed with this book, but I believe that it was overdone. While Clarissa herself is not a particularly true to life or even notably likable character, the idea that a beautiful, accomplished, and clearly upper crust female stowaway who is, for some inexplicable reason, completely oblivious to the opposite sex could wreak havoc on a 19th Century warship's company, both among the commanders and on the lower deck, rings enormously true. Similarly, because the storyline parallels a trip across the Pacific with a gunboat diplomacy campaign on an island sliding into civil war in the second half, there is an unavoidable unity of plot that not all of Patrick O'Brian’s works have.
If you enjoy the Aubrey-Maturin series, you will undoubtedly give this novel a perfect score; however, if you are looking for a standalone novel, it will not receive a high rating for the obvious reason that it is not a standalone novel and you must read the previous books in the series to fully comprehend what is going on.
In this ongoing narrative of the H.M.S. Surprise circumnavigating the world, there was a gap in the naval action, but I welcomed it for the character growth and adventures in the South Seas. This novel had a female stowaway, which gave Patrick O'Brian's lively writing a whole new meaning.
I believe that this book is a solid addition to the previous volumes in the series, as well worth the attention of any fan of Age of Sail combat, with Mr. Patrick O'Brian’s customary precise planning, characterization, and well-developed streak of humor. While I don't think Clarissa is a believable character in and of herself, I think her effect on the ship's company is completely believable and predictable.
Spoiler Alert! if you don’t want to know something important about this novel then do not read this paragraph after this full stop. Aubrey's decision not to return to Sydney and turn Clarissa to the authorities when she's discovered on board, wasting time and also condemning her to the whims and fancies of officialdom, who treated H.M.S. Surprise quite badly in the previous novel.
Final Thoughts:
In the Aubrey/Maturin canon, the Truelove finds its appropriate position. While I wouldn't put it among the finest in the canon, it holds its own against any other novel of the genre.
'Clarissa Oakes' is 'The Truelove' under a different name. It's a fantastic novel about nineteenth-century naval discipline and the impact of having a woman on board a ship under Letters of Marque. The story also incorporates South Sea Islands culture and British empire-building policy in an interesting and thought-provoking way, but Patrick O'Brian's style transports the reader from the Australian penal colonies across the Pacific, with dips into the ocean's sea life, the realities of wind and calm, and the education of a pair of orphaned children. The interesting relationships with spouses, children, and estate obligations carried out on a ship hundreds of miles away are preserved. Intrigue is provided through spy plans and agents, as well as music, medicine, and the interactions of various characters among officers and troops. Call it Clarissa Oakes or The Truelove in both cases it is highly recommended.
Synopsis:
“The fifteenth installment in Patrick O'Brian's widely claimed series of Aubrey/Maturin novels is in equal parts mystery, adventure, and psychological drama.
A British whaler has been captured by an ambitious chief in the Sandwich Islands at French instigation, and Captain Aubrey, R. N., Is dispatched with the Surprise to restore order. But stowed away in the cable tier is an escaped female convict. To the officers, Clarissa Harvill is an object of awkward courtliness and dangerous jealousies. Aubrey himself is won over and indeed strongly attracted to this woman who will not speak of her past. But only Aubrey's friend, Dr. Stephen Maturin, can fathom Clarissa's secrets: her crime, her personality, and a clue identifying a highly placed English spy in the pay of Napoleon's intelligence service.
In a thrilling finale, Patrick O'Brian delivers all the excitement his many readers expect: Aubrey and the crew of the Surprise impose a brutal pax Britannica upon the islanders in a pitched battle against a band of headhunting cannibals.”
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Rating: 95/100
Recommended: 100/100 Yes.
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