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A review by ben_miller
Flashman's Lady by George MacDonald Fraser
5.0
I've been in need of cheering up the last few weeks—a combination of personal and national strife—and when you need cheering up, there's no man for the job like Flashy.
I think this is one of his best and funniest adventures yet, delivering all the exoticism, hair-raising action, and unvarnished cowardice one expects, with the surprise addition of his wife Elspeth as a key figure in, and commenter on, the drama. Elspeth, constantly described by Flashman in his memoirs as a "beautiful idiot" and "gold-headed filly without a brain," corroborates this assessment with a series of hilariously vapid, but somehow endearing, diary entries. (The acidic editorial comments of Elspeth's prudish, homely sister Grizel also never fail to get a laugh.)
As always, Fraser's research is meticulous, and his writing far more accomplished than some in the literary canon would be comfortable admitting. Flashman's Lady contains some truly outstanding descriptive prose and scene construction, as Fraser handles massive pirate battles, orgiastic Madagascaran feasts, and other set-pieces with aplomb, keeping all plates spinning at once: lush setting, frenetic action, dozens of characters, and our hero's singular perspective.
I believe this puts me exactly halfway through the series—hopefully by the time I finish, I'll be ready to start again.
I think this is one of his best and funniest adventures yet, delivering all the exoticism, hair-raising action, and unvarnished cowardice one expects, with the surprise addition of his wife Elspeth as a key figure in, and commenter on, the drama. Elspeth, constantly described by Flashman in his memoirs as a "beautiful idiot" and "gold-headed filly without a brain," corroborates this assessment with a series of hilariously vapid, but somehow endearing, diary entries. (The acidic editorial comments of Elspeth's prudish, homely sister Grizel also never fail to get a laugh.)
As always, Fraser's research is meticulous, and his writing far more accomplished than some in the literary canon would be comfortable admitting. Flashman's Lady contains some truly outstanding descriptive prose and scene construction, as Fraser handles massive pirate battles, orgiastic Madagascaran feasts, and other set-pieces with aplomb, keeping all plates spinning at once: lush setting, frenetic action, dozens of characters, and our hero's singular perspective.
I believe this puts me exactly halfway through the series—hopefully by the time I finish, I'll be ready to start again.