Lacks texture
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I read this book with great anticipation, after reading about it in the Gibraltar Chronicle.
It far from met my expectations. Amidst the countless predictable, unnecessary, cheap and at times laughable references to sex, rape and love, the only thing to keep me going was the relatively interesting compilation of historical facts. However, if history is what you want, you might be better off buying a factual rather than fictional book.
I give one star for the effort, and another for getting the dates right.
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I could not let go of Tom Dollar
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1860. Tom Dollar, a black American sailor, kills a slave-trader, after being provoked in a bar brawl, whilst on leave in Gibraltar. He is imprisioned in the daunting Moorish castle while he awaits trial. Is he to be hanged for sure?
This is a true story. But, based on these facts, a colourful imaginary epic has been created. It includes romance, action, heritage, mystery.
I thought I knew all about Gibraltar, the British colony on the Southernmost tip of Spain, until I read this book. I was also ignorant of the extent of British involvement in the slave trade too “until I read this book”.
Reg V Reynolds takes us on an exciting world tour. From pub tours and smuggling trips around ‘The Rock’ to the cotton fields of South Carolina. We travel the rough waves with overfilled boats from North Africa to the slave markets of Portugal. A rich illustration has been painted that no history book can describe.
I’m glad I bought this book. It took place in so many places I have visited. I was born in a Britsh port not unlike Liverpool and I gave birth to a daughter in Gibraltar.
I had read short stories by this author before. I like the accessible way in which he writes. He’s a good story-teller which helps you to get right there and become totally absorbed in the atmosphere.
I could not let go of the book until it was finished and I learned an awful lot.
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