The Nutmeg of Consolation
First edition
|
|
| Author | Patrick O'Brian |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Geoff Hunt |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Series | Aubrey-Maturin series |
| Genre | Historical novel |
| Publisher |
Harper Collins (UK) W. W. Norton & Company (US) |
|
Publication date
|
1991 |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) & Audio Book (Cassette, CD) |
| Pages | 316 paperback edition |
| ISBN | first Norton edition, hardback |
| OCLC | 23765671 |
| 823/.914 20 | |
| LC Class | PR6029.B55 N88 1991 |
| Preceded by | The Thirteen-Gun Salute |
| Followed by | Clarissa Oakes |
The Nutmeg of Consolation is the fourteenth historical novel in the Aubrey-Maturin series by British author Patrick O'Brian, first published in 1991. The story is set during the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812.
Building a schooner on an island in the South China Sea as food supplies grow scant, Aubrey and his shipmates are attacked by pirates then rescued by a Chinese ship large enough to hold them all as far as Batavia, where Raffles has a ship for them. This novel constitutes the second of a five-novel circumnavigation of the globe; other novels in this voyage include The Thirteen Gun Salute, Clarissa Oakes, The Wine-Dark Sea, and The Commodore.
Aubrey and his crew are shipwrecked on a remote island in the South China Sea after surviving the destruction of HMS Diane in a typhoon. A cricket match is taking place between the sailors and marines, which keeps up the crew's spirits as they build the schooner needed for reaching Batavia. Maturin is killing game for the pot, particularly wild boar and babirussas. Dyaks, Kesegaran and her male assistants, arrive on the island. Speaking in Malay with Maturin, the Dyaks promise to take a message to Batavia in exchange for a note on Shao Yen for twenty "joes" (Portuguese Johannes coins), but instead return in a proa with 300 pirates, twice as many as the 150 Dianes. After killing and beheading the ship's carpenter and some other crew members while stealing tools, they attack the encampment and burn the schooner. They are routed after a bloody conflict and all pirates lost as their proa is sunk by the last remaining ball from the "long nine" gun, well-aimed.
...
Wikipedia