1957 Napoleonic naval fiction, ninth written and eleventh by internal
chronology. Ten years after the war ended, Admiral Hornblower, in
command of the West India squadron, faces a variety of challenges. US
vt Admiral Hornblower in the West Indies.
Much as Mr Midshipman Hornblower, this is structured as a
series of independent stories sharing a setting rather than as a
single novel.
"St. Elizabeth of Hungary" has Hornblower paying a courtesy call at
New Orleans. There's a Frenchman who is clearly up to something
nefarious, but he's in a fast American-flagged ship which can't really
be stopped without causing political upset, and Hornblower's schooner
can't hope to fight her even if she catches her. So how to find her,
and how to stop the plot? Hornblower lies; and is saved from disgrace
only because the lie proves to have been the unexpected truth.
Which, although it's framed in terms of honour, rather misses the mark
for me. What Hornblower is worried about is that his lie will become
public: he will be known as a man who lied while giving his word of
honour. So when it turns out that his statement was, unknown to him,
true, all is resolved: there will be no disgrace. But if Hornblower
actually had a sense of honour, that would make no difference: he
still knows he lied, that he is a man who will lie in order to get a
greater goal. Of course to condemn this is also to condemn Corrie Ten
Boom for lying to the
Nazis about the presence of Jews in her house; but, by Hornblower's
own lights and those of his society, he should hate himself even more
than he does already, and there's no sign of that here once it's clear
that the secret won't get out.
Of course Hornblower's morality has always been flexible; never mind
Marie de Graçay, which avoids being counted as infidelity only because
Hornblower's wife had died, which again he didn't know at the time,
there's the casual encounter with the Countess Canerine, when they're
both married. So he's clearly experienced at rationalisation. Still,
it leaves a slightly bad taste.
"The Star of the South" has Hornblower chasing a slave ship, but
needing a ploy in order to catch her. But, with an unusual burst of
empathy, he must also manipulate his straightforward captain into
thinking it was his own idea.
"The Bewildered Pirates" has Hornblower and his secretary kidnapped by
pirates whose ship has been sunk but who are still on the loose on
Jamaica. He is released to negotiate, but knows he will have to go
back to rescue the secretary… until that man proves to have escaped by
his own efforts, at which point it all becomes much easier.
"The Guns of Carabobo" has a visiting merchant who charms everyone,
but who then goes on to cause great trouble in the South American
fight for independence from Spain. I particularly appreciate the
intricate machinations used to exert a fictional influence on an
historical battle to an extent that everyone present can believe it
made a difference, but also in such a way that conventional history
won't bother to mention it.
"The Hurricane" sees Hornblower leaving his West Indian command, with
his wife Barbara coming out to join him on the voyage home. There's a
matter of a bandsman up for court-martial for refusing to play music
as written; but he escapes, and the Hornblowers leave. There's some
solid technical sea action as a hurricane wrecks the ship on which
they're passengers, and at the end it proves, in a mirror of the first
story, that Barbara is just as prone as Hornblower to assume that one
wrong thing done for the right reasons will be the end of everything.
(If no deserter can hope to last long on Jamaica because of the
generous bounty for turning them in, how were those pirates, on whom
presumably there was a similar bounty, managing to get food?)
All rather fun. I said last time that I was enjoying the earlier-set
but later-written stories more than the first few books; now with this
later-set book I think I can say that it's because of Forester's
maturation as a writer.