The Cursed Shore (The Philippe Kermorvant Thrillers, 3)
This is a story of huge scope—the international and class relations between revolutionaries and bourgeoisie involved in the failed Quiberon expedition of 1795. Lord Wilden is summoned by the PM William Pitt. Would my lord favour an invasion of France to back the beleaguered royalists? His Majesty at Kew Palace is keen.
Leonore Kermorvant, having sent her husband to the guillotine, awaits at Château de Brechelean the return of the Vicomte, his brother Philippe. Despite her political leanings, she takes in a wounded Chouan royalist officer, Georges Cozanet.
Lord Wilden is ashamed to find his crewmen are more seaworthy than him, and that is what wins the sailors’ respect. Philippe accepts captaincy of a privateer. He conflicts with the son of the ship’s owner, Heinrich fils, over his orders concerning a crewman, Marcus Drever. A sealed letter from Heinrich père reveals a new mission, promising double pay, which the matelots vote to accept. The new mission takes Philippe to a remote island west of the Orkneys, sailing under the false colours of his birthplace, the new United States of America. But it seems the Heinrichs haven’t told the whole truth, and the mission ends unpredictably. Furthermore, Philippe finds in that remote place the man who murdered his Russian wife and child. Wilden enters Quiberon Bay aboard the captured Pomone, but squabbling in the ranks between the counter-revolutionary émigrés and the Breton Chouans leads to failure.
The author’s expert naval knowledge informs his historical fiction. And yet it is the people who shine in this story. Their personalities and their cultural assumptions about class, rank, and revolution are beautifully drawn. Even the ships have individuality. Many of the characters are historical, and the fictional ones are drawn from historical persons. It will appeal to fans of Hornblower and Poldark.
