Mr. Nelson's Ladles. By Showell Styles. (Faber. 12s. 6d.)
I FIND historical fiction a peculiarly frustrating form of literature: for, unless one is an expert on the period; one has no means of telling how much is history and how much fiction. The better books of this genre are those which deal with history's lesser-known characters; but to take artistic liberties with the lives of the great captains of the past is, in my view, a grave error of judgement, if not in questionable taste. Mr. Styles asks us to believe that the whole of Nelson's early naval career was dogged by an American naval officer called Nathan Searle. They first meet in Norfolk, Mr. Styles tells us, where Searle runs off with Nelson's first love, Susan Borrow. Their paths next cross in the West Indies where Nelson, having escaped being seduced by the wife of his Commander-in-Chief, captures Searle's ship. They have a further skirmish in Quebec, where Searle has come to obtain information from a lovely spy who has captured Nelson's attentions. They narrowly miss fighting a duel in St. Omer, France, and again in the West Indies where Nelson rescues Searle's wife (Susan Borrow) from the plague. F,ijially there is a reconciliation between them in Norfolk just before Nelson, now married to FannY Nisbet, sails for the Mediterranean and Lady Hamilton. It is a pity that Mr. Styles should have thrown away his talents on all this nonsense, for he has an engaging narrative style and he re-creates most tellingly the atmosphere of the period. But if he proposes to continue with this kind of book, I beg him, on behalf of all lovers of history, to choose a hero of his own inventing.
LUDOVIC KENNEDY.
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