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A review by kaje_harper
Blessed Isle by Alex Beecroft
5.0
This is a story I loved. I wished it had another hundred pages. It's beautifully written, feels true to the period and yet gives us two gay men with a happy ending. There is adventure, heartbreak, love and fear. The basic framework is in journal form, but we get to hear from both main characters, and the entries are long so it reads as an alternating first person account, mainly from Harry's point of view.
Captain Harry Thompson is a man who has been aware of, and suppressed, his desire for other men for a long time. Born to the lower class, he's worked his way up in the Royal Navy with hard labor, study, and self-sacrifice. His whole self-worth is bound up in his rank, his responsibilities and his command. When he first sees his new First Lieutenant, Garnet Littleton, he's struck by the amount of attraction he feels. But Harry has never, ever, let his own desires get in the way of his responsibilities.
Garnet is different, a man from a more privileged background who didn't have to fight so hard to reach his rank. He's willing to fit pleasure in around duty, and he's also a bit of an adrenaline junkie. The fact that being with a man is risking the gallows adds spice for Garnet, not fear or self-loathing. He's just as taken with Harry, and much more eager to make something of it. But his Captain isn't taking him up on any offers, until fate lends a hand.
This was a time when sodomy, if caught and convicted, led to the death penalty. Harry begins his portion of the story by saying, "Those of us uncaught must perforce be silent. But one day, perhaps, when the world has grown kinder, this journal will be read by less jaundiced eyes. To them I will be able to say there was fidelity here, and love, and long-suffering sacrifice, and joy." The fear overshadows joy through much of the story, and yet it makes the moments of love more poignant and deeper.
I savored every bit of this story, and look forward to the next one I open from this author. One of the best things ever is finding a new author you love, with a backlist you haven't read.
Captain Harry Thompson is a man who has been aware of, and suppressed, his desire for other men for a long time. Born to the lower class, he's worked his way up in the Royal Navy with hard labor, study, and self-sacrifice. His whole self-worth is bound up in his rank, his responsibilities and his command. When he first sees his new First Lieutenant, Garnet Littleton, he's struck by the amount of attraction he feels. But Harry has never, ever, let his own desires get in the way of his responsibilities.
Garnet is different, a man from a more privileged background who didn't have to fight so hard to reach his rank. He's willing to fit pleasure in around duty, and he's also a bit of an adrenaline junkie. The fact that being with a man is risking the gallows adds spice for Garnet, not fear or self-loathing. He's just as taken with Harry, and much more eager to make something of it. But his Captain isn't taking him up on any offers, until fate lends a hand.
This was a time when sodomy, if caught and convicted, led to the death penalty. Harry begins his portion of the story by saying, "Those of us uncaught must perforce be silent. But one day, perhaps, when the world has grown kinder, this journal will be read by less jaundiced eyes. To them I will be able to say there was fidelity here, and love, and long-suffering sacrifice, and joy." The fear overshadows joy through much of the story, and yet it makes the moments of love more poignant and deeper.
I savored every bit of this story, and look forward to the next one I open from this author. One of the best things ever is finding a new author you love, with a backlist you haven't read.