Jan Needle, Sea Officer William Bentley #3: The Spithead Nymph (McBooks, 2003) I'm not sure why I keep reading this series.
No one else really steps up to fill the gap. The people in The Spithead Nymph aren't good people, by and large; the most they earn is pity for the ringer Needle puts them through. And yes, Needle certainly believes the life of a British navy man -- sailor and officer alike -- is a pretty hard-luck life. Things just don't go well for anyone. The same must be said for Bentley's true love, Deb -- the eponymous "Spithead nymph," or sailor's whore -- whose life just stumbles from bad to worse. And the rampant racism of the book -- even after acknowledging that, yes, it was a racist time in the world and such attitudes were common -- makes this a pretty hard slog. It's an ugly, brutal tale, and I took little pleasure in reading it. Which is a shame, since Needle is a fairly good writer. I just wish he wasn't quite so relentlessly dark. I believe there's one more book in the series. I haven't decided yet if I should read it or not. ![]() |
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