Flashman's Lady
By:
George MacDonald Fraser
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Average Customer Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Description:
A game of cricket lands Flashman in thrall to a mad barbarian queen in Madagascar in Volume VI of the Flashman Papers. Flashman accepts an invitation from his old enemy, Tom Brown of Rugby, to join in a friendly cricket match, little suspecting that he is letting himself in for the most desperate game of his scandalous career. What follows is a deadly struggle that sees him scampering from the hallowed wicket of Lord's to the jungle lairs of Borneo pirates, from a Newgate hanging to the torture pits of Madagascar, and from Chinatown's vice dens to slavery in the palace of 'the female Caligula' herself, Queen Ranavalona of Madagascar. Had he known what lay ahead, Flashman would never have taken up cricket seriously.
Publisher: Plume
Customer Review: 2 out of 5
A bit of a mess -
Unlike the earlier Flashman novels, Fraser tries a bit too hard when he decides to combine two fairly incongruent historical events, fighting pirates in Borneo with James Brooke and then ending up in the clutches of Madagascar's Queen Ranavalona I. (One of history's truly insane individuals that I was not acquainted with until reading this book) This one, as might be expected, is just a mess. Flashman on the run from cricket gambling thugs (Don't ask.) ends up halfway around the world as his wife has become the prey of an infatuated pirate. Gone is the semblance of reality often found in the other Flashman novels, instead we find a half baked plot, that lacks the focus of the novels I've previously read. Even for Flashman fans, this one could be missed with no problem.
Customer Review: 4 out of 5
Flashman at the peak of his powers - Another cracking adventure in the Flashman canon, this episode takes us from the cricket field at Lord's to colonial Singapore, the pirate nests of Borneo and the insanity of 19th-century Madagascar.
As always, fate, and Flashman's attempts to suborn it in pursuit of cash, women and fame, lead him into hair-raising situations where death is an ever-present with disgrace not far behind. But Flashman is on supreme form this time around. Unusually, his wife Elspeth accompanies him on many of his adventures, and her presence allows a richer examination of Flashman's character, which proves to be less selfish and caddish than earlier episodes have led it to seem.
As he finally escapes from the palace of the crazed Queen Ranavalona, pursued by her praetorian guard, with Elspeth at his side, adventure, action, affection and character are perfectly meshed to make this one of the very best of the high-quality Flashman canon.
Customer Review: 5 out of 5
Courage! and deal the cards. - After my third episode of Flashy's exploits, I slurp them down as fast as I can; they increase in audacity and fascinating historical tidbits. How could a poltroon outwit the great Bismark, outmanoeuver Pirates, be seen at the scene of pivotal political events?? Flashman empowers me to run boring errands, endure dull political correctness and other mealy-mouthed characteristics of our era. My inner vision of his peering through Mrs Lade(!)'s plummage en flagrante delicto (sp?), gives me backbone to standing in line at Wal-Mart, write checks to the IRS, or other things we do rather than outrun Afghanistan militants......
Customer Review: 4 out of 5
Flash Outshined - Harry Flashman - despicable poltroon or modest unreliable narrator, depending on your literary whim - shows himself eclipsed by a bolder rogue and a genuine hero in the first half of this too-long novel. The bolder rogue kidnaps Harry's wife, and the genuine hero, the authentic White Rajah of Sarawak, rescues her... almost.
By far the most entertaining portion of this sixth Flashman novel is the first quarter, which features a hilarious account of cricket as played in Jolly Old England in the middle of the 19th C. Harry, naturally, is a cricket phenom, whose skill is exceeded only by his skullduggery. Then Harry find himself once more en route to hellish adventures in the colonies. His travelogue description of Singapore is worth the price of a ticket there, and in Singapore, he encounters James Brooke, the White Rajah, the Hotspur character who overshadows him for another quarter of the text.
The second half of the book is effectively another novel, one that seems thin and anticlimactic after the first. Harry gets himself imprisoned in the clutches of a madwoman-queen. Finally he escapes. Ho hum. But another side of our Flashman is revealed; he actually risks his skin to save his addlepated little wifey. How will we ever be certain again that he's as much of a coward as he boasts?
Author GM Fraser introduces an innovation in this volume; part of the story is told by Mrs. Flashman, in the form of pages from her diary. She's not the narrator her husband is.
Except for the cricket chapters, this is a less amusing Flash than the others I've read. If you're plowing your way through the life story of England's most meretricious hero, you have every right to skip an episode now and then.
The more I think about it tonight, the more uncomfortable I find myself getting over the question of whether one should laugh or vomit at Harry's racism and sexism. I begin to think I'm obliged to do both, or else give the series up.
Customer Review: 5 out of 5
The Author Never Disapoints. - After the first 78 pages which describe a cricket match (apparently it's a British game and not a real sport like American Football) the book gets back on track and ends up being one of the better Flashman's which takes him from Singapore to the wilds of Burneo and all the way to Madagascar. Once it actually gets going between the running battles with pirates and Flashy's capture and use as a stud for an African Queen you will not want to put the book down. As always the attention to historical detail is excellent.
Overall-Highly Recommended
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