Lovers of historical maritime novels featuring naval heroes such as Hornblower, Sharpe and Outlander will love the debut novel by young local author Katie Daysh.
Indeed one of the masters of the genre, bestselling author Conn Iggulden, has called it ‘an extraordinary work, absolutely breathtaking…it beggars belief’.
Published this month (May) it is the first of three novels to feature Captain Hiram Nightingale, a veteran of the wars that raged throughout Europe and the Americas for the last decades of the 18th century. Plagued by wounds both physical and mental, he attempts to recover by accepting command of HMS Scylla. His task is to hunt down the mutineers of the HMS Ulysses off Trinidad and bring the ship and crew to justice.
Island author Katie brings a fresh approach to the genre, challenging it’s sexual stereotypes, and candidly exploring the inner life, mental vulnerabilities and insecurities of the traditional bullet-proof male hero. It is a twist to tradition that has been enthusiastically received by early readers.
Praise has also been forthcoming for the novel’s historical accuracy and period detail, acknowledging the evident meticulous research that goes into writing a novel such as this.
Interested readers are invited to the book launch at 18:00 on Monday 15th May at Medina Bookshop in Cowes. As well as a free glass of wine attendees will also be able to purchase the book and get it signed by the author herself.
Medina Bookshop manager Paul Armfield says:
‘This is an extremely well-written debut and deserving of great success, Canelo who have published the book have a great reputation in this genre and seem to be really getting behind it. We may well be looking at a successor to the likes of Patrick O’Brien. We look forward to the launch and watching Katie’s writing career blossom.”
So happy to see this book getting some love <3
Highly recommend!