Patrick O'Brian's THE REVERSE OF THE MEDAL

A book review by Dennis McDonald

I put off reading this book. Frankly, I’ve grown so attached to Aubrey and Maturin that I was not looking forward to the career disaster and legal troubles I knew were about to befall Jack. 

I shouldn’t have waited. Granted, there’s much less sea action here — much takes place on land — but the writing, characterization, and just plain wonderful writing take the reader back in history to Old England. Politics, intrigue, and emotion predominate. Maturin tries mightily to help his friend out of his legal troubles; what he ends up doing at the end of the book for Jack is dramatically and emotionally exquisite. Whatfriend!

Instances of lovely writing abound. My favorites: the cricket match, the preparation of Jack’s home in anticipation of his wife’s return, and Maturin’s walking tour of the English countryside.

I am not looking forward to running out of books in this series to read!

Review copyright (c) 2010 by Dennis D. McDonald