Cindy Vallar's Blog - Posts Tagged "dominica"

The Sugar Storm by Lyle Garford

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Oranjestad on the island of St. Eustatius in the Caribbean has gone from a small, unimportant town to a burgeoning seaport where ships of all nations come to trade. In late 1775, rumors of a smuggling operation reach the ears of spymaster Sir James Standish. The colonists are not happy with British dominance, and if the French are supplying weapons and ammunition to the Americans, it means serious trouble is in the offing. Since his operative, Owen Spence, makes frequent voyages to gather much-needed food supplies for the English Caribbean islands, he is best situated to investigate.

When Owen and his crew arrive in the neutral Dutch port, what they find is beyond imagination. The place teems with ships and a wide variety of cargo, all of which is available . . . for a price. This is good for Barbados, where food is always at critical levels since the island is unable to produce sufficient supplies to feed everyone because so much of the arable land is reserved for growing sugarcane. There seems to be a preponderance of American and French ships and their seamen, not to mention the presence of the all-too-familiar Le Mystere, which belongs to the French spymaster in the Caribbean. There is also an underlying current of antagonism flowing through the streets, which causes more than a few problems between crews and with authorities.

Realizing there is far more to learn and that there is a need to monitor the situation more frequently, Owen sets up a spy network at Oranjestad. When sailing between Barbados and the Dutch island, he also puts in at Dominica where farmers on the less-inhabited side of the island also have food to sell. It doesn’t take long to garner information that eventually leads him to believe that the French have designs on retaking the ideally-situated island from the British, especially once the American colonies declare independence and formally ally with the French.

The Sugar Storm is the second in the Owen Spence trilogy and takes place between 1775 and 1778. While most events occur on land, a few involve the sea. Unfortunately, one raid takes place off-stage, but the recounting makes for interesting reading. When there is action, it can be tense and dangerous. Once or twice, readers are left hanging, but eventually Garford provides the necessary follow through; one reason for this is to convey a sense of just how much time passes between the inciting incident and the resolution because immediacy of communication just didn’t exist back then. One slightly annoying aspect of the story is the frequent references to hurricane season but no actual hurricanes.

Aside from shining a light on the Caribbean during the American Revolution from a British perspective, Garford also focuses on the difficulties that arose once the war cut off American trade with the islands, which was essential to the English colonies’ survival. He populates the story with a wide variety of characters which are well-drawn and come from different backgrounds. Owen comes face-to-face with the man responsible for his dismissal from the Royal Navy, which occurred in the first book, but one of the most interesting new characters adds a few ripples to the re-encounter with his nemesis. Even John Adams and Benjamin Franklin make cameo appearances. This historical novel may not be a nail-biting, action-packed thriller, but it is a unique tale of an often-overlooked aspect of the War of Independence.


(This review first appeared at Pirates and Privateers: http://www.cindyvallar.com/Garford.ht...)



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