#12: 1803-06. Covers the Battle of Trafalgar

In Manchester, James’s wife Mary Anne becomes embroiled in the plight of the working poor. Lucy, Lady Aylesbury, is most of the focus of the 12th book in the Morland Dynasty series. Her lover Weston is a captain in the Navy; her husband Chetwyn develops a friendship with a young man, and their relationship causes much scandal. Haworth, Mary’s husband, is also a captain in the Navy, and witnesses firsthand the Battle of Trafalgar. Lucy’s relationship with Weston sails along (pardon the pun), until…

This is a pretty decent addition to the series, although I felt that Lucy was a bit foolish at times and Chetwyn very hypocritical. Chetwyn is definitely not one of my favorite characters in this series, though I hope he improves with time. Nobody seems particularly happy or optimistic about the future, which can make for some pretty bleak reading a times. Cynthia Harrod-Eagles is especially adept at describing great historical moments; the Battle of Trafalgar is depicted with painstaking precision, significant considering that it is the lynchpin that holds this book in the series together. British naval history is not an area in which my knowledge or interest is strong, but there were several scenes that had me gripped! This entry in the Morland saga is a bit of a downer, but it’s still a good read. ( )

Sea battles, cholera, illegitimate children, and a love that dare not speak its name. These are the elements that bring the drama to the 12th book in Cynthia Harrod-Eagles’s ambitious Morland Dynasty series. This book covers some of the action at sea during the Napoleonic Wars, as one of the men of the family and a close associate take part in the Battle of Trafalgar. Another character works with the poor factory workers in Manchester. And all of the characters must navigate treacherous relationships, some forbidden and therefore fraught with drama, and others built on shaky grounds of convenience or economics.

The slower pace of the novels has made it easier to become invested in more of the characters. In the earlier books, there might have been one or two people who got a large amount of attention in more than one book, but as the series has gone on, Harrod-Eagles has been giving herself time to develop more characters and carry their stories through multiple books, instead of just focusing on one principal woman.

It’s also been nice to see that there haven’t been huge leaps across swathes of history between books. I was disappointed to miss out on Oliver Cromwell and on the Great Fire of London because they fell in the gaps between books, but that’s becoming less of a problem. From what I can tell, the slower pace will be the norm for the rest of the series. That makes it more enjoyable for me, but I think it also makes it more important to read in order because the books don’t reboot to a new generation as often.

This wasn’t my favorite book in the series, but it’s a strong contribution nonetheless.

See my complete review at my blog. ( )

Another fine effort. I drifted off a little during the naval scenes, but the ending was great. ( )