Overview

What might happen if one of Jane Austen's heroines encountered a character from the novels of Patrick O'Brian but the sparks really flew? In the early days of England's war against Revolutionary France, Captain Edward Trewin of the British Royal Navy is one of the nation's most successful frigate commanders, but his private life is falling apart. His wife Julia, who bitterly resented his eagerness to sail to war, has not answered any of his letters for more than a year. Dispirited, Edward sails his battle-scarred ship directly for the dockyard in Portsmouth, bypassing his home in Cornwall. He faces a lonely existence ashore for months on end while Palladium is made ready for service, but a spontaneous invitation results in an unexpected challenge--temptation. As a houseguest of his former commanding officer, Edward finds himself gradually drawn to his host's capable but neglected daughter Caroline. What transpires in Portsmouth changes everything. A ""hero for the nation"" now finds himself all at sea on dry land. How will Edward and two very different yet remarkable women resolve this tangle of love, honor, and duty? Of Ships and Sealing Wax is a richly atmospheric upmarket historical novel with a bittersweet love thread, featuring a nuanced male protagonist, compelling female characters, and the backdrop of war. The reader will find emotional depth and dramatic immersion in a deeply romantic historical novel that is, nevertheless, not a romance.

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9798995511908

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Reviews

Edward is a delicately drawn protagonist--a sailor naturally constituted for war, he is also surprisingly nuanced and sensitive, and these contradictory inclinations are made entirely plausible by the author. This is a thoroughly enjoyable read--deeply thoughtful and dramatically immersive . . . as well as psychologically sophisticated. -- Kirkus Reviews The author's period details add authenticity, with terms like ""kickshaw,"" ""lutestring dress,"" ""potboy,"" and ""tosspot"" evoking the era. The novel vividly portrays the social life of the time. [There is] much to enjoy in Shaw's evocative depiction of passion and high society. -- Historical Novel Reviews

Author Information

Suzanne Shaw loves British history and literature, especially Jane Austen and fiction about the Age of Sail. She's a life-long writer who has practiced law and was also trained as a journalist. Truthfully, she began writing historical fiction so she could spend as much time as possible in the Eighteenth and early Nineteenth Centuries. Of Ships and Sealing Wax is her first novel. She was fortunate enough to research its background and settings in the Bodleian Library, the London Library, and in Cornwall. She lives with her rescue cat in the Pacific Northwest.

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