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 Lieutenant Samuel Blackwood (deceased) by Emma Collingwood
This is a book that engages your mind and your senses. In this age of ebooks, its physical characteristics deserve mention.
A paperback with a peach-colored cover, it measures 4.75 inches by 7.75 inches. Its 76 pages have the luxurious feel of the heavy-weight, acid-free paper used for hardbacks and not that grimy pulp stuff you get with mass-market paperbacks. It's perfectly edited by Alex Beecroft (author of Captain's Surrender) so you're spared the many typos that occur in today's best-sellers.
The cover illustration by Amandine de Villeneuve is in the style of an 18th century woodcut as are the four illustrations within – more about them in a minute. It merits a cross-reference into Great Cover Art! Here our hero Lieutenant Daniel Leigh, holds a lantern aloft as he explores the hold of a ship. The title declares that this is a Georgian ghost story: the first book in the Penny, Dreadful, and Tarbottom Series.
Here at Obsidianbookshelf.com, I did a little research at Wikipedia: "Georgian" refers the reign of the British Kings George I to IV: 1714 to 1830. The "Penny Dreadfuls" were thrillers printed in the 1800s for working-class boys who often couldn't afford the penny and would all chip in together and then pass the booklets around. Lieutenant Samuel Blackwell (deceased) is homage to those exciting plots while being a much more beautiful physical product.
Our story opens in England during the Age of Sail. Five young gentlemen working for the British Admiralty gather to relax, gossip, and play whist (a card game a lot like bridge). One lad Henry is so depressed about a new assignment that he can barely concentrate on his cards. The others coax forth his story: he's been commissioned as first lieutenant on a cursed ship, the HMS Privet. On this ship, the first lieutenants tend to die gruesomely! Amid the laughter of the three unsympathetic friends, our hero Daniel asks more questions. A sinister story emerges.
Six months ago, the Privet had an absolutely perfect first lieutenant Samuel Blackwood who commanded ship and crew as if born to it. Of course that made the captain redundant, but Captain John Meadows allowed it. A capable man in the past, Meadows started deteriorating as if under an evil spell: letting Blackwood do everything, and just fading away. Even more disturbing, the ship itself liked Blackwood so much that it "behaved like an obstinate pony" whenever he went off-duty.
Then a terrible storm washed Blackwood overboard! Things really got supernatural from there. The ship itself lashed out, causing ropes to break, fires to ignite, and men to fall to their deaths from the rigging. Meanwhile two consecutive officers replacing Blackwood committed suicide. Now poor Henry will be the third man, a death-sentence in his eyes.
Daniel decides to take Henry's place to investigate this bizarre situation. His father Admiral Leigh could easily arrange the assignment but proves reluctant to oblige. Father and son have an amusing conversation that reveals Daniel's good-natured stubbornness as he struggles to pin down his father's squeamish objections to Captain Meadows. Finally the embarrassed admiral manages to convey allegations of sexual misconduct. Daniel continues to ask for a transfer to the Privet, adding sarcastically on page 23, "I promise to fight for my honour should he try to grope my freckly arse."
Thus begins Daniel's adventure: a ghost story, love story, sea-faring adventure, and mystery all rolled into one. I found Lieutenant Samuel Blackwood (deceased) an entertaining read: funny, absorbing, and full of energy. It wrapped up all the plot threads to my satisfaction.
Fans of erotica should know that the romance between Daniel and his captain is understated to keep it in balance with the other plot elements. If there's a weakness in the book, it may center on the two men suddenly falling in love without a lot of build-up.
Readers might also desire more emphasis on the romance itself. But that would be missing the point: the book wants to keep its plot elements in balance and achieve closure while attempting this short and challenging literary form (kind of like writing a sonnet). I'm impressed at what a good job the author does while keeping it fun for the readers. The book does have one brief sex scene that is tasteful but hot!
This leads me to the illustrations. Aside from the cover, there are four interior drawings, all done with the clean crisp lines and fastidious detail characteristic of 18th century woodcuts. The illustrator Amandine de Villeneuve faces a challenge in that, to modern readers unfamiliar with the Age of Sail, these male characters could look too feminine with their long flowing hair and billowing garments, including stockings with fancy buckled shoes!
She does a great job with them. I spent time studying each illustration, covering up first the heads and then the bodies. She lavishes detail upon those 18th century clothes: the tiny buttons and cuffs on their breeches near the knee, the high-heeled shoes with their mirror-shine, the piping and heavy folds of their coats, the intricate winding of their neckties, and the ribbons that hold back their long hair.
You would never think these characters were women in spite of their elaborate clothing. In order to fit the entire figure of one or more characters into a scene, the illustrator has to keep their faces scaled down to a tiny size. She gives them refined features because, of course, they're officers and gentlemen. Yet somehow she manages to convey their masculinity – and they're all clean-shaven so she can't take the easy way out by sketching in a beard or mustache! I think she does it with the length and angularity of their noses and chins.
Also their hands, emerging from those lacy cuffs, look big and strong and square with powerful fingers. She does fingers extremely well, showing each one distinct and shaped with realistic tension. The four interior drawings highlight important moments in the narrative. I almost screamed with delight when I saw that one shows the first kiss between Daniel and his captain: it's one hot and romantic drawing!
So, readers, you really shouldn't miss Lieutenant Samuel Blackwood (deceased), especially if you're a fan of historical fiction. It's the first in a planned series! It can be purchased from the author's website (see Relevant Links below). Her website has one of the best taglines I've ever seen: Love, Suspense, and Sarcasm in the Age of Sail!
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