The Spithead Nymph (The Sea Officer William Bentley Novels) [Paperback]

Jan Needle (Author)

Book Description

Series: The Sea Officer William Bentley Novels | Publication Date: May 1, 2004

Midshipman William Bentley awaits trial on charges of treason—until he is offered the chance to avoid prison by serving as first lieutenant to Richard Kaye, now captain of Will's old ship Biter. Will accepts and begins a harrowing journey to Jamaica, unaware that the woman he loves has been sold as an indentured servant to a depraved Jamaican planter.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Painfully authentic portrayal of naval life in the eighteenth century. A powerful story of lost humanity . . ." -- The Guardian

From the Publisher

The Sea Officer William Bentley novels are gritty, noir-inspired sea adventures whose unrelenting realism plumbs the depths of shipboard life in the Age of Sail. Here, Jan Needle speaks about the impetus that drives his novels—

Behind the Myths: Why I Write Nautical Fiction
By Jan Needle

I started reading nautical fiction at an early age for all the usual romantic reasons: clean- cut midshipmen, who by bravery and brilliance rose up the ladder of promotion to the very top, thwarting enemies and fate until their courage and wisdom enriched their men, their country, and indeed the world. It was marvelous, really—and I believed it all. My father was a deckhand on Fleet Auxiliary ships when I was born in Portsmouth during World War II, and my Uncle Ron a decorated navy hero. The sea and boats became my overwhelming passions.

But as I grew, perceptions changed. The truth, I learned, was deeply complex. Uncle Ron was a hero certainly—but he was merely a stoker, third class. When the war was over he was out. That’s it, mister. Find a job. And his brother, my Uncle Les, was a conscientious objector, but Ron insisted Les was the braver man by far. My father and uncles also held all officers in deep contempt, although some, quite clearly, were brave, compassionate, extraordinary. My problem with the "Heroic Age of Sail," I realised, was not that the officers were all seen as noble heroes, and that the men were hardly seen at all, but that, because of the romantic gloss, none of them was truly believable. As to the women characters—well, to put it at its mildest, they were only well-rounded in one sense.

What I am trying to do in my books is to get behind this myth, to show an age of desperate, ruthless struggle. In the eighteenth century, the British Navy carved out, with blood and violence, a huge portion of the world. The losses were enormous—but not from warfare, mainly. Firstly came disease, then accident: the peril of the sea. And life on land was not much better. My heroine, Deb Tomelty, a hatter girl, runs incautiously away with her friend because she needs excitement. Within months her friend is dead, and Deb is a whore. It happened; it happened all the time. Not all the men were heroes, not all the maids were captivating ladies, not all the dreams of Portsmouth boys turn out to be quite true. The romance is not dead for me, though—it exists in the hard, bitter lives of my characters as I follow them to see where they will lead. And I remember my uncles Ron and Les, and my father. Surely heroes, too?

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Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: McBooks Press (May 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590130774
• ISBN-13: 978-1590130773
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,220,774 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Spithead Nymph by Jan Needle, July 20, 2004

By 

Edward M. Lavin (San Antonio, Texas) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Spithead Nymph (The Sea Officer William Bentley Novels) (Paperback)

Good read, fast paced and as historically accurate as possible within a fictional book. Needle portrays life in the British Navy more accurately than some other authors of the same genre who downplay some of the harsher aspects of life aboard a royal man of war. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more of Needle's work.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Spithead Nymph, July 21, 2004

By 

O. R Williams - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Spithead Nymph (The Sea Officer William Bentley Novels) (Paperback)

Jan Needle has chosen to take his reader on a realistic journey into the reality of Napoleonic-era Britain and that reality is unvarnished indeed. His charcters are flawed and thus believable and his villains are not subhuman and thus are confounding. This book is a good read; fast paced and written for those who still enjoy the English language. Be ready for a less than happy feeling though, for I suspect Needle's descriptions reflect what life was really like for most of those who lived in those terrible times. In sum, I recommend this book especially as a change of pace from the usual Napoleonic seafarer genre.

4.0 out of 5 stars Hornblower noir, March 25, 2007

By 

W. Wedenoja (Springfield, MO) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Spithead Nymph (The Sea Officer William Bentley Novels) (Paperback)

A `Spithead Nymph" is a whore who caters to the Royal Navy, or so I gathered from this novel. Deb Tomelty is a fine and pretty woman who was forced into whoring to survive. Fortunately, one of her customers was Midshipman Will Bentley, and they fell in love. Will is a competent, honest, brave, and loyal fellow with aristocratic family. As the book opens he is in jail on a charge of treason stemming from an adventure with smugglers that almost killed him. But his commander, "Slack Dickie" Kaye, has got him out of jail and into a new adventure, along with his faithful buddy Sam Holt. Will and Sam - now Lieutenants - are to sail to Jamaica to help the sugar planters, who are worried about unrest among their slaves, although they would rather be rescuing Deb, who is, by the way, in serious trouble and on the run. All of them eventually end up in Jamaica, where they do find a revolt of sorts, experiencing mutiny and engaing in piracy along the way. The author tells a very good tale, and seems quite knowledgeable about life at sea and in Jamaica at the time. One peculiarity of this novel is that Will and Deb never actually cross paths in the book; their adventures parallel each other.