C.S. Forester - The Happy Return

 

Rating: 5/5

 

Review:

Another enjoyable, thrilling tale 

 

Age cannot wither these Hornblower books, nor custom stale. I read Hornblower And The Hotspur for probably the 5^th or 6^th time, just for the pleasure of it, and had to go straight on to The Happy Return. It’s just as good.

Newly promoted to Captain, Hornblower is in command of the frigate Lydia in the Pacific, dealing with tricky diplomatic matters with Spain and with a half-mad tyrant whom he has orders to assist. It’s another superbly told tale, full of fascinating detail which is never ponderous, and with some absolutely spellbinding battle sequences. C.S. Forester’s portrait of Hornblower’s psyche is as acute and believable as ever and the whole thing is just a pleasure from start to finish.

Written in 1937 (it is actually the first Hornblower book Forester wrote), some of the racial language used does grate on the modern ear – but that’s always a factor in reading books of earlier periods and sensibilities and it didn’t spoil things for me at all.

Many of my very well-worn 1970s paperbacks of the series carry an endorsement from Winston Churchill: “I find Hornblower admirable, vastly entertaining.” Well, I’m with Churchill on that one, and this is up there with the best of them. Very warmly recommended.