Post Captain, by Patrick O’Brian

September 7, 2009 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: bestseller, book review, historical fiction, International bestseller, Jack Aubrey, Main character, Patrick O'Brian, recommendation 

It is 1802. Post Captain is the second in Patrick O’Brian’s epic 20-volume 19th-century maritime series about the unlikely companions Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin. Finally Post Captain, by Patrick O'Brian England is at peace with France, after the Peace of Amiens. But peace is bad luck for Commander Jack Aubrey, a warrior who loves the sea, and who made and lost a fortune in the first book (Master and Commander). Peace means he is back on shore without command.

He meets the Williams family and their cousin Diana Villiers. Jack courts Sophia Williams, but is also very attracted to Diana, and commences an affair with her. His approach to courtship leaves a lot to be desired, and creates problems for him left and right – both with his superiors and with his friend Stephen, to the point where the two friends even challenge each other to a duel.

However, he plans to marry Sophia Williams, but quickly finds his fortune in prize money gone – he has been ordered to repay a wrongly captured merchant ship and at the same time he has been embezzled by his prize-agent. So instead of being a rich man, as he thought he would be, he is now severely in debt and at risk of being imprisoned for it! He has to flee the country and plans to live with Maturin in Spain.

But the peace of Amiens did not last long, and even before Jack gets to Stephen’s estate in Spain, France declares war and begins rounding up English subjects. Jack and Stephen escape, and are able to make their way back to England from Gibraltar.

In England, Jack – constantly seeking to avoid his creditors – is restored to active service. He is given command of HMS Polychrest, a very strange experimental ship designed to launch a secret weapon. As it turns out, she is a very bad sailing ship, and on top of it, Jack’s patience is tried by a sadistic lieutenant. But in the end, Captain Aubrey is able to take her to battle and win a decisive victory – he loses the Polychrest but leads three boats to board the Fanciulla. And returning to England in the Fanciulla, he is finally posted captain. Afraid of being captured by his creditors, he asks for a temporary command and is assigned to HMS Lively.

As luck will have it, Lively is assigned to a squadron sent to intercept Spanish ships bring bullion back to Spain from her American colonies. The Spanish convoy refuses to surrender, but after a short battle where Jack Aubrey plays an important role, one Spanish galleon explodes and the other three surrender. The victorious captains’ share of the prize money will be enough to pay off Jack’s debts and make him a rich man!

Post Captain is a wonderful book. It is rare to find a book that has such a rich blend of various ingredients. O’Brian’s writing is crisp and spare. The characters are fully-developed human beings, the writing is full of O’Brian’s quirky humor, and the action is exciting. The book is very hard to put down.

Praise:

Master and Commander raised almost dangerously high expectations; Post Captain triumphantly surpasses them…a brilliant book.

– Mary Renault

Aubrey and Maturin compose one of those complex and fascinating pairs of characters which have inspired thrilling stories of all kinds since the Iliad.

– Iris Murdoch and John Bayley

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