Woodman, Richard. A Brig of War. John Murray, 1983.
Reason read: to continue the series started in February in honor of history month.
When we join Nathaniel Drinkwater he is aboard the brig Hellebore. Admiral Nelson has ordered Lieutenant Drinkwater to deliver an urgent message to the British squadron in the Red Sea and hunt for Edouard Santhonax. On the professional front Drinkwater is responsible for settling disputes no matter how trivial. The power struggle dynamic between Drinkwater and Rogers builds tension throughout the plot. But Rogers is not the only enemy. Morris, Drinkwater’s nemesis in An Eye of the Fleet comes back to taunt Drinkwater with his higher rank and mind on revenge.
In his personal life, Nathaniel has since married Elizabeth (which was kind of a shock to me since the last time I knew, Nathaniel and Elizabeth had only seen each other the once. Confessional: I had forgotten there was a whole other book, A King’s Cutter, between An Eye of the Fleet and A Brig of War.). In my world it appeared that Woodman, not one for sentimental fluff, sailed right over their courtship and wedding. Now Elizabeth is expecting their first child (by not reading A King’s Cutter maybe I was forced to skip right over the sex, too?).
Woodman continues to educate his readers on nautical terms and superstitions. Words like binnacle, capstan, fo’c’s’le, catheads, jackstay, futtocks, spanner, and cascabel are common throughout A Brig of War. Woodman addresses the taboo of homosexuality and women aboard a ship.
As an aside, I keep comparing the vast difference in connectivity from 1798 to 2025. Drinkwater could not get word to Elizabeth to inform her of his latest assignment. He would be at sea well beyond the birth of their child. For all she knew Drinkwater had deserted her at the instant he became a father. These days, at the very least, she would catch an errant post on Insty, if not a vague text.
A Brig of War only spans less than two years of Drinkwater’s life at sea (February 1798 to January 1800). Again, like An Eye of the Fleet, Woodman draws from real events and real people. Some of the senior officers described in A Brig of War really existed.
Monhegan Six Degrees: I loved Woodman’s description of the phosphorescence trailing behind the wake of the dolphins. It reminded me of the glowing tide on the the beach.
Author fact: Richard Woodman left school at sixteen (same age as my dads when he left home to join the coast guard).
Book trivia: A Brig of War is actually the third book of the series. The Challenge has me skipping a bunch. I will skip The Bomb Vessel and The Corvette in order to get to 1805.
BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the simple chapter called “Sea Stories” (p 218).
~*LunaSea*~ 