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.
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.
| Published By | House of Anansi Press Inc — Apr 4, 2015 |
| Specifications | 352 pages | 5.25 in x 8 in |
| Keywords | Historical; Sea Stories; Literary; Historical Fiction; canadian; London; Jamaica; Port Royal; Caribbean; privateer; pirates; chess; adventure; action; survival; 17th century; Benny Wand; whodunit; book club; thief; hustler; savant; Captain Morgan; chess playing; board games; gambling; boats; voyage; sailing; strategy; swashbuckling; pirate stories; conman; swindler; cons; at sea; |
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| Written By | 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 |
| Written By |
| 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 |
Short-listed, Trillium Book Award, 2016
“A gifted, natural storyteller…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…” —Toronto Star
“…Hough’s latest is a genuine pleasure to read, and to be taken in by.” —National Post
“Hough is noted for meticulous research…a well-told story” —Winnipeg Free Press
“Robert Hough’s novels reveal a capacity for carefully researched forays into strikingly esoteric areas… The deft conjuring of this world…is the novel’s greatest strength.” —Quill and Quire
“Bawdy and irresistible, this is an adventure you don’t want to miss.” —W Dish