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The Sisters Brothers meets
Master and Commander in Robert Hough¿s rollicking and raucous new historical novel.
The year is 1664, and Benny Wand, a young thief and board game hustler, is arrested in London for illegal gaming. Deported to the city of Port Royal, Jamaica, known as ¿the wickedest city on earth,¿ Wand is forced by his depleted circumstances to join a raid on the Spanish city of Villahermosa. The mission is a perilous success, and Wand attracts the attention of the mission¿s leader, an up-and-coming Welsh seaman, Captain Henry Morgan, whose raids on Spanish strongholds are funded by the British government.
While embarking on a campaign in the Caribbean, Wand and Morgan develop an unlikely friendship through a shared love of chess. As Morgan is corrupted by his increasingly sordid attacks on Spanish cities, he slowly becomes Wand¿s greatest enemy. To defeat his former ally, Wand embarks on a strategic battle of wits and must help Morgan in the most savage and unexpected way possible. This is blistering and bawdy storytelling at its best.
About the author
Robert Hough is an award-winning novelist. He lives in Toronto, Ontario.
Visit Robert Hough's website:
http://www.roberthough.ca
Follow Robert Hough on Twitter:
http://www.twitter.com/robert_w_hough
Summary
The Sisters Brothers meets Master and Commander in Robert Hough’s rollicking and raucous new historical novel.
The year is 1664, and Benny Wand, a young thief and board game hustler, is arrested in London for illegal gaming. Deported to the city of Port Royal, Jamaica, known as “the wickedest city on earth,” Wand is forced by his depleted circumstances to join a raid on the Spanish city of Villahermosa. The mission is a perilous success, and Wand attracts the attention of the mission’s leader, an up-and-coming Welsh seaman, Captain Henry Morgan, whose raids on Spanish strongholds are funded by the British government.
While embarking on a campaign in the Caribbean, Wand and Morgan develop an unlikely friendship through a shared love of chess. As Morgan is corrupted by his increasingly sordid attacks on Spanish cities, he slowly becomes Wand’s greatest enemy. To defeat his former ally, Wand embarks on a strategic battle of wits and must help Morgan in the most savage and unexpected way possible. This is blistering and bawdy storytelling at its best.
Additional text
“Hough’s latest is a genuine pleasure to read, and to be taken in by” National Post
“The Man Who Saved Henry Morgan is Hough’s most amiable book, its prose moving along like a perfectly rigged sloop-of-war.” Globe and Mail
“. . . a novel packed with rip-roaring adventure and the presence of the real-life Welsh-born privateer.” Toronto Star
“The Man Who Saved Henry Morgan is notable for presenting “the wickedest city on Earth” with a documentary-like sense of place
The deft conjuring of this world, including a visceral description of Morgan’s attack on a Spanish fort, is the novel’s greatest strength.” Quill and Quire
