I bought my first Joseph O’Connor novel at the weekend-Star of the Sea-and am enjoying it so far, although I have only just started reading it.
I came across is whilst surfing on Amazon for my next Kindle read and it has a tremendous number of good reviews and has sold in massive quantities. If I enjoy it I will definitely buy more O’Connor novels, including one which caught my eye, “The Salesman”.
His most recent novel, “My Father’s House”, based in Nazi occupied Rome, has received excellent reviews, too, so that will go on my “must read” list.
I am listenting to an audiobook, “The Wager”, which I have seen recommended in more than one well regarded publication. What I like about this book is it is non-fiction and is about a mutiny aboard a ship, The Wager, in the 1740s which is an unusual topic.
It is supposed to be well researched and based on actual records from the time of who was on board, what happened, and other contemporaneous records.
The only jarring thing is the narrator, who has a soft, American accent. Anything to do with mutiny on board a British man o war ship based in the 18th century might benefit from a narrator with a deep, cut glass, English accent such as many of the narrators of the English classic novels by Trollope or Dickens.
Still, I will give it a chance and look forward to the narrative unfolding.