Resolution E-Book

A.N. Wilson

• Herausgeber: Atlantic Books
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2016

Beschreibung

A. N. Wilson's powerful new novel explores the life and times of one of the greatest British explorers, Captain Cook, and the golden age of Britain's period of expansion and exploration. Wilson's protagonist, witness to Cook's brilliance and wisdom, is George Forster, who travelled with Cook as botanist on board the HMS Resolution, on Cook's second expedition to the southern hemisphere, and penned a famous account of the journey. Resolution moves back and forth across time, to depict Forster's time with Cook, and his extraordinary later life, which ended with his death in Paris, during the French Revolution. Wilson once again demonstrates his great powers as a master craftsman of the historical and the human in this richly evoked novel, which brings to life the real and the extraordinary, brilliantly drawing together a remarkable cast of characters in order to look at human endeavour, ingenuity and valour.

Leseprobe

A. N. WILSON grew up in Staffordshire and was educated at Rugby and New College, Oxford. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, he holds a prominent position in the world of literature and journalism. He is a prolific and award-winning biographer and celebrated novelist. He lives in North London.

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Published in hardback and e-book in Great Britain in 2016by Atlantic Books, an imprint of Atlantic Books Ltd.

Copyright © A. N. Wilson, 2016

The moral right of A. N. Wilson to be identified as theauthor of this work has been asserted by him in accordancewith the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may bereproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any formor by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, orotherwise, without the prior permission of both the copyrightowner and the above publisher of this book.

This novel is a work of fiction based on real events.The incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination.

The author and publisher are grateful for permission toreproduce a quote from Samuel Johnson, The Letters of Samuel Johnson,with Mrs. Thrale’s genuine letters to him, Vol. 1: 1719–1774; Letters 1–369, ed.by R. W. Chapman, (Oxford University Press, 1952),by permission of Oxford University Press.

Every effort has been made to trace or contact all copyright holders.The publishers will be pleased to make good any omissions or rectify anymistakes brought to their attention at the earliest opportunity.

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A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Hardback ISBN: 978 1 78239 827 1Trade paperback ISBN: 978 1 78239 828 8E-book ISBN: 978 1 78239 829 5

Printed in Great Britain

Atlantic BooksAn Imprint of Atlantic Books LtdOrmond House26–27 Boswell StreetLondon WC1N 3JZ

www.atlantic-books.co.uk

For Georgie

Contents

Part One

Chapter I

Part Two

Chapter I

Chapter II

Part Three

Chapter I

Chapter II

Part Four

Chapter I

Chapter II

Part Five

Chapter I

Chapter II

Part Six

Chapter I

Chapter II

Part Seven

Chapter I

Chapter II

Chapter III

Afterword

PART ONE

Setting Forth

The bride hath paced into the hall,Red as a rose is she

I

1772

NALLY SAID,

—They’re almost human. The hands. The eyes . . .

Nally had already named his monkey Plunkett. The choice of name had not been explained. George felt it would be a mistake to become too fond of ‘his’ monkey. Life was cheap at sea. Only a few days previous, one of the carpenters, Henry Smock, filling a scuttle, had fallen from the side and sunk in the briny without a trace. More upsetting, because more poignant, had been the fate of a swallow who had followed the ship from St Iago, which was where they had bought the monkeys. After a hundred and sixty miles at sea, the bird was still with them, sheltering, when able, in the rigging. On one occasion, rain and seawater in the foremast had collected in gallons, so, when the sails were oriented, a torrent had fallen, carrying the drenched bird with them. George had wrapped it in a piece of cloth, taken it back to the cabin, nursed it back to life. Reinhold, who was entirely capricious – and could easily, in another mood, have deplored sentimentality bestowed on a bird – entered enthusiastically into its cult, even encouraging it to visit the Captain and to fly about indoors while they all dined together on Sauer Kraut and dressed albatross (shot the previous day by the master, Mr Gilbert). Even Captain Cook, who was as capricious in his mysterious way as Reinhold Forster – though with that silent Yorkshireman the whims and prejudices were held secret, whereas Reinhold wore more on the surface than was ever prudent – yes, even the Captain liked the swallow; called it a ‘fine little man’. When, however, some days later, one of the cats got it, he was impatient with Reinhold’s displays of emotion.

—It was a swallow – a bird. You let a bird loose – what do you expect a cat to do?

While Reinhold, the ship’s naturalist, was saying, at the same time, talking through the Captain,

—You think it was no accident? That the bird was not introduced to the cat – to be blunt, fed to it? You think there are not some very cruel, ill-natured people on this ship?

—Ay – and some difficult ’uns ’n’ all, was Cook’s response.

So with the monkey, George was trying not to fall in love. The unnamed little fellow was holding a piece of raw potato, Nally’s gift. Nally said,

—No, Plunkett, you got yer own spud!, and he lightly cuffed his monkey out of the way.

George’s monkey seemed to appreciate the attention given to it. He sat still on the side of one of the rowing boats, while George, cross-legged on a coil of rope, intensely transmitted its likeness into a sketch-book.

—I mean, said Nally, the hands are like our hands, the eyes – well, you can see they’re thinking something all right. There must be some link between them ’n’ us?