Book review: The Maid and the Mid
A short review this week of a novella by Jennifer Newbold. She has been lamenting that it’s difficult to get reviews for indie historical fiction, something that I may have mentioned here from time to time. So if any of you have read any HistFic lately (or ever) and not got round to reviewing it, take this as a hint!
Jennifer classifies her novella, The Maid and the Mid, as a historical piece, but, to be honest, I think it works better as fantasy and, as fantasy, it’s very good.
It definitely is historical, in that it is set in 1776, when a young Nelson was invalided home from India. The story is built around this real incident and there are a lot of nice observations about life aboard a warship, but I’m concerned that some of the details may not be entirely correct. It also seems, for want of a better phrase, a Bridgerton-inspired approach to history. The scenery is lovely, there are real historical characters, but the dialogue and social niceties seemed to belong more in the 21st century than the 18th.
As with Bridgerton, once you stop worrying about the details of social behaviour in the period, you can relax and enjoy the story. In fact, the dialogue gives this tale an immediacy that makes it genuinely spooky, the supernatural horrors not being viewed through a prism of archaic language. And it really is a very good story.
There are some minor spoilers ahead, but, as readers will know that Nelson survives, they shouldn’t spoil your enjoyment.
Told from the viewpoint of a young woman who is attracted to the sickly midshipman, it starts slowly. Horatio Nelson (always referred to as Horace – I warned you that the social niceties are ignored) is suffering (historically accurately) from malaria. As the weeks pass, his condition seems to deteriorate. The narrator, her brother, and young Horace, are troubled by nightmares. They feel a ghostly presence haunting the ship. Tempers fray. A seaman falls from the rigging to his death.
Another midshipman has brought a mysterious Indian idol aboard. Nelson describes it to the narrator: ‘It was only about five inches high, made of bronze, I think; I’m not sure. Just a little figure of a man, dancing… but it was obscene. … I could hardly contain my revulsion … I really could not wait to give the unholy thing back.”
Fortunately, Nelson has heard of djinns and, guided by the advice of the chaplain and others, the young people start out on a ghost hunt.
There are mysterious mists that wrap around the ship, strange noises in the night, and a gratifying number of spine-tingling moments before things are (as in all the best djinn stories) satisfactorily resolved.
Overall, a good read for a winter afternoon.
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