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What I had not remembered is that while ‘Savannah purchase’ is set in the Napoleonic period, early in the 19th century, ‘Wide is the water’ is around fifty years earlier, during the American war of independence. So it doesn’t include any of the same characters or their descendants.
Moreover, given the number of references to events leading up to the story in this book, I assume that this book is in fact a sequel to one that I don’t have. It doesn’t much matter - the story is complete in itself. Possibly it would feel less complex if I were familiar with some of the characters, but I doubt it. Not being a history expert, nor really familiar with US history, a lot of this novel went rather over my head.
The main characters are Hart Purchis and Mercy, who - we quickly learn - were married on board his ship. He is English, she is American. Ship life has not been easy, and some of the sailors are superstitious about having a woman on board. And Hart has been so stressed that the marriage was never actually consummated. And nobody is entirely certain if it’s even legal.
Mercy is left in the US, hoping to take refuge with some of Hart’s relatives, while he sets off with his crew, hoping for prizes and for better morale. And the bulk of the book follows them, separately, as unexpected events befall them and their expected plans fall aside.
I have to admit I skimmed over some of Hart’s story, at least while he is at sea. His ship gets into a fight with a British warship and is lost… and he gradually becomes less and less sure who can be trusted. However, in what seems like a huge coincidence, he learns that the captain of the British ship is a cousin, Dick Purchas. The two become quite friendly, and Hart gets a lot more freedom than his crew. This inevitably leads to resentment, particularly when some of them are subjected to what seems to me like barbaric forms of British punishment.
Mercy’s adventures are no less stressful - possibly more so. The person she was expecting to stay with is an elderly woman who is dying, and who has a somewhat unstable daughter, Ruth. Mercy promises to look after Ruth, and they have to escape, accompanied only by a young servant boy, to escape the invaders…
Eventually Hart finds himself in the UK, under parole at Dick’s family home. He falls rather under the spell of Dick’s stunning but devious sister Julia. And Mercy, at the same time, is befriended by a Frenchman called Charles, who is clearly smitten with her…
I found the story quite tense in places, very well told but with far more political and wartime information than I could deal with. I skimmed a fair bit, as my main interest was in the relationships between the main characters. There were some shocks, including some very unpleasant ones, but thankfully no gratuitous detail. It’s hard to know who can be trusted right up to the final chapters where coincidence strikes again. Not that I minded; the ending of the book is entirely satisfactory, if a tad too neat and tidy to be believable.
If I had realised that this was more history than story, and that it didn’t include any of the ‘Savannah Purchase’ characters, I might have decided not to reread it. But it’s a good story, overall, and might be of interest to anyone who likes realistic historical fiction where the romantic threads are secondary. The descriptions, situations and conversations all feel authentic, and the writing is excellent. Just not my preferred genre.
As with the author's other novels, this is long out of print. But it has been published in Kindle form, and is often available in used bookstores, both physical and online.
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