Sorry, this one just isn't for me. I've gotten through about 40% and the book just isn't holding my interest. I was hoping for a good sea tale, something akin to Forrester's Hornblower or the Bolitho series by Alexander Kent. Indeed that's what the advertising led me to expect, especially since it mentions Patrick Harris. But this reminds me more of something by Jane Austen or the Brontes. It moves very slowly, takes place mostly on land in Ireland during the time of the famine, and seems dedicated more to exploring the mores and manners of the time than telling a swashbuckling tale of adventure. Grammatically, the writing is fine. But on the whole, I found the novel very, very slow and the characters not very interesting.

This is a complex and ambitious novel, perhaps overly so. It is also not really a sea novel; it is a story of the Irish potato famine and its impact on a variety of characters, centered around Talleyman, a junior naval lieutenant with multiple connections to an Irish landlord.

The author can turn a good phrase and much of the dialogue is subtle and interesting. There is a particularly witty passage about Goldbeater’s Skin which impressed me. The author has also done his research and the book feels very authentic.

That said, there are certainly weaknesses. The multiplicity of viewpoint characters is confusing and the frequent shifts in viewpoint within a single chapter - without demarcation to signal a shift - makes it even more so. I thought that more time in Talleyman’s head would have better explained his motivations and actions. The narrative was also choppy, particularly around Talleyman’s illness mid-book. As a main character, I often found his behavior hard to understand - perhaps he is meant to be mercurial.

I would probably read a sequel, particularly should a strong editor challenge Mr. James’ good prose into a clearer narrative.