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Wrenched by tragedy from a peaceful and respectable middle-class home in Victorian London, Hannah Kemball finds herself accompanying her father, Captain “Cracker Jack” Kemball, aboard the tea-clipper Erl King on a voyage to China.
It is 1869. In shanghai and Foochow, the crack British tea-clippers are loading the season’s tea, preparing for the annual race to bring their valuable cargoes and the fortunes of their swaggering crews halfway around the world to the London market.
Unfortunately for Hannah, only one thing matters t the iron-willed captains about to pit their skills against the perils of three oceans: to be the first to make it home. Overconfident of victory, Captain Kemball strikes a wager with the sinister Captain Richards of the Seawitch. The stakes: Hannah’s hand in marriage.
The race is on, and as the sails unfurl, so do the dangers for Hannah aboard her father’s ship. As the fastest sailing vessels ever built storm across the world’s oceans, she learns that this is a race with no rules, and that murder, mayhem and deceit are all part of the game.
It is 1869. In shanghai and Foochow, the crack British tea-clippers are loading the season’s tea, preparing for the annual race to bring their valuable cargoes and the fortunes of their swaggering crews halfway around the world to the London market.
Unfortunately for Hannah, only one thing matters t the iron-willed captains about to pit their skills against the perils of three oceans: to be the first to make it home. Overconfident of victory, Captain Kemball strikes a wager with the sinister Captain Richards of the Seawitch. The stakes: Hannah’s hand in marriage.
The race is on, and as the sails unfurl, so do the dangers for Hannah aboard her father’s ship. As the fastest sailing vessels ever built storm across the world’s oceans, she learns that this is a race with no rules, and that murder, mayhem and deceit are all part of the game.
- GenresHistorical Fiction
272 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1990
About the author
Richard Woodman
135 books75 followersCaptain Richard Martin Woodman was an English novelist and naval historian who retired in 1997 from a 37-year nautical career, mainly working for Trinity House, to write full-time.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
November 14, 2018
I was given this book by a friend as he knew I am a sucker for historical fiction and have read other works of this ilk. That said, Richard Woodman was a new author to me.
The book centres on two tea clippers, the Erl King and the Seawitch, bringing tea from Shanghai to London in 1869 and a wager between their respective captains, 'Cracker Jack' Kemble and Dandy Richard Richards. The first ship back to Britain carrying the first of the season's tea could expect to be paid a premium on arrival but at stake is Captain Kemble's daughter's, Hannah, hand in marriage to Captain Richards should the latter win. When Jack Kemble is killed by pirates early in the voyage Hannah, who is travelling on-board her father's ship, is forced to take command.
Now personally, I found the depictions of handling and the navigation of the ship over thousands of miles of barren sea and the difficulties that the men of sailing ships faced due to the vagaries of wind and weather rather exhilarating even if I didn't understand all the technical elements.
However, I found the characterization flimsy and improbable at best. I found the story's would-be heroine Hannah, completely unbelievable, she seemed to change her mind so often that she bordered on the psychopathic. Whilst I appreciate that she was supposed to be a woman in a man's world and that she was supposed to be changing from a dependant to a fully independent woman I just didn't buy it at all. Similarly, whilst I felt a little sympathy for the lovesick Munro, the ship's second officer, I found him staid and predictable. As for the "sinister" Welsh Captain of the Seawitch. The thought that he was so driven by lust for Hannah, a woman whom he had only met the once, that he would stake everything just to possess her, bordered on the ridiculous frankly. The other minor characters were little better IMHO although the Chinese prostitute travelling as a passenger under the protection of her rich Chinese protector did at least offer some light relief.
The genesis of this book, the races between the tea clippers to be the first back to port, on the face of it seems to be a neat idea, so on the whole I think that this was rather a missed opportunity. Overall, I found it generally poorly handled and the so called love angle totally unnecessary.
The book centres on two tea clippers, the Erl King and the Seawitch, bringing tea from Shanghai to London in 1869 and a wager between their respective captains, 'Cracker Jack' Kemble and Dandy Richard Richards. The first ship back to Britain carrying the first of the season's tea could expect to be paid a premium on arrival but at stake is Captain Kemble's daughter's, Hannah, hand in marriage to Captain Richards should the latter win. When Jack Kemble is killed by pirates early in the voyage Hannah, who is travelling on-board her father's ship, is forced to take command.
Now personally, I found the depictions of handling and the navigation of the ship over thousands of miles of barren sea and the difficulties that the men of sailing ships faced due to the vagaries of wind and weather rather exhilarating even if I didn't understand all the technical elements.
However, I found the characterization flimsy and improbable at best. I found the story's would-be heroine Hannah, completely unbelievable, she seemed to change her mind so often that she bordered on the psychopathic. Whilst I appreciate that she was supposed to be a woman in a man's world and that she was supposed to be changing from a dependant to a fully independent woman I just didn't buy it at all. Similarly, whilst I felt a little sympathy for the lovesick Munro, the ship's second officer, I found him staid and predictable. As for the "sinister" Welsh Captain of the Seawitch. The thought that he was so driven by lust for Hannah, a woman whom he had only met the once, that he would stake everything just to possess her, bordered on the ridiculous frankly. The other minor characters were little better IMHO although the Chinese prostitute travelling as a passenger under the protection of her rich Chinese protector did at least offer some light relief.
The genesis of this book, the races between the tea clippers to be the first back to port, on the face of it seems to be a neat idea, so on the whole I think that this was rather a missed opportunity. Overall, I found it generally poorly handled and the so called love angle totally unnecessary.
December 27, 2023
Not what I usually expect from Richard Woodman but a ok read.
Did Not Finish
December 30, 2016Nach 70 Seiten must ich dieses Buch leider aufgeben. Die Drinkwater Reihe habe ich geliebt, da war der Autor in seinem Element. Hier aber versucht er sich über weite Strecken in der Erkundung der weiblichen Seele und das hätte er besser lassen sollen - viel zu viel tell, zu wenig show.
Schade drum, aber es muss auch schlechte Bücher geben.
Schade drum, aber es muss auch schlechte Bücher geben.
December 22, 2011
I stopped on page 117. I do not need to, nor wish to, read about a rape in detail. I'm sure it ended with someone breaking it up, but I couldn't stomach it. Besides, this book was more for the sailors out there, lots of jargon I didn't understand but was willing to expose myself to new horizons, so to speak.
Why does it happen to me that if a historical novel is accurate, it just ticks me off because of how women were treated and that they let themselves be treated that way? And, if it isn't accurate, it ticks me off because it isn't accurate! I suppose I can't rewrite history, so I should avoid historical novels.
Why does it happen to me that if a historical novel is accurate, it just ticks me off because of how women were treated and that they let themselves be treated that way? And, if it isn't accurate, it ticks me off because it isn't accurate! I suppose I can't rewrite history, so I should avoid historical novels.
Want to Read
November 20, 2015I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/13667138
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/13667138
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews