The Guineaman, by Richard Woodman

May 13, 2011 by
Filed under: book review, historical fiction, naval fiction, Richard Woodman 

Guineaman, Richard WoodmanThe Guineaman is the first book in Richard Woodman’s William Kite trilogy. It is set in the middle of the eighteenth century. The main protagonist is a young man, son of a town apothecarist, who is forced to flee the scene of a crime, and heads to the coast of England where he is offered a position as surgeon on a ship involved in the slave trade.

William Kite takes it the job and thereafter endures the perils of the slave trade and his repugnance for it; yellow fever and the rapid promotion its toll among his shipmates brings him; the terrible treatment of the slaves by the slavers; the rapes of the female slaves; and in the end falling in love with a slave girl he names Puella.

Finally he lands in the West Indies, at the outbreak of the Seven Years’ War. He has enough of the slave trade already. And now he insists on quitting his job, and goes ashore with his beloved Puella.

There he is befriended by Mr. Mulgrave, a wealthy, civilized, rather Dickensian merchant, and offered a job in his trading company as his clerk. He does his job admirably, and soon becomes a wealthy man – a merchant, ship captain, and a trader. And eventually he sets his course for England with his black bride to attempt to clear his name and start a new life.

This is a well-written and in many ways good maritime fiction book. Richard Woodman knows naval history and he obviously has studied the slave trade as well. The Guineaman is an interesting book, with an interesting protagonist. The plot is intriguing. Also, I founds it interesting to read a martime fiction book where the hero is not a navy officer. This is a book I recommend for fans of Richard Woodman and readers interested in historical maritime fiction.

Links to books by Richard Woodman at amazon US, amazon UK, and amazon CAN.

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