Flashman's Lady (Flashman)

Like he previous two volumes Fraser entertained me greatly with the life and times of a master in the arts of cowardess and fornication. In this book there is again plenty of historical perspective and adventure. In addition, this later Flashman goes a little deeper in the self-analysis of our hero's strengths and weaknesses and adds extra "depth" to a better understanding of what makes good old Flashy tick.

Using the sport of cricket Fraser goes back to his roots as a sports writer in giving a really engaging description of the game. I should mention that knowledge of the basics of this sport is required to fully appreciate the finesses of Fraser's description.

As a pleasant extra, many of the chapters end with entries from the diary of Elspeth, Flashy's one, but certainly not only. These little nuggets really work in giving the reader some extra perspective on the narrative and Flashman himself.

In all, this book was another joy from beginning to end. With books as enjoyable as this one, a reader might wish to be on the ship at the end of Marquez' "Love in times of cholera", and hope the journey would never end.


Flashman and the Pyrates, or, Flashman in Madagascar   February 9, 2004
ensiform (Dallas, TX USA)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful

Flashy - after, incidentally, pulling a hat trick on the three most celebrated cricketers of his time - accepts a "friendly" wager in a single-wicket match against Don Solomon, a foreign-born Eton-educated socialite. The tie score results in he and Elspeth accompanying Solomon on a cruise to the Far East, where Solomon's true colors are revealed, and he absconds with Elspeth. Flashman must fight, however unwillingly, to get her back - until they both end up in the hands of the bloodthirsty queen of Madagascar, Ranavalona I. This is a fine entry in the series, possibly a little more heavy on the humor this time around than the adventure. The first half of the book is all cricket and social intrigue; a more thorough look at Madagascar might have been in order, tho' perhaps Fraser was dealing with limited intelligence on that subject. Another minor quibble: At the book's opening, our hero is caught in a damned-if-he-does-damned-if-he-don't trap that pushed him again into adventure (lose the cricket match and see Elspeth go on a cruise with Solomon, or win and be beaten by crooked bookies?). And, as in Flash For Freedom, the dilemma that prompted him into action, when he returns (in that case, cheating at cards), is completely forgotten. I would have liked to see some closure in the matter of the threatening bookie, at least. All that aside, this is, of course, another witty, well-researched adventure. Bravo!


Flashy shows a spark of selflessness in spite of himself   May 25, 2005
Joseph Haschka (Glendale, CA USA)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful

In the 1966 screen adaptation of A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS, Sir Thomas More (Paul Scofield) advises his daughter Meg (Susannah York):

"If (God) suffers us to come to such a case that there is no escaping, then we may stand to our tackle as best we can. And, yes Meg, then we can clamor like champions, if we have the spittle for it. But it's God's part, not our own, to bring ourselves to such a pass. Our natural business lies in escaping."

One of the most endearing qualities of author George MacDonald Fraser's anti-heroic protagonist, Harry Flashman, is his natural cowardice, which he freely admits with a certain degree of pride. Flashy is an expert at escaping; More would have been impressed.

In that volume of his memoirs entitled FLASHMAN'S LADY, Flashy is still young in the mid-1840s. His talent for a prudent and precipitous departure has yet to mature, as evidenced by his delayed response when beset by thugs in a dodgy section of Singapore:

"I'm not proud of what happened in the next moment. Of course, I was very young and thoughtless, and my great days of instant flight and evasion were still ahead of me, but even so, with ... my native cowardice to boot, my reaction was inexcusable ... in my youthful folly and ignorance, I absolutely stood there gaping ..."

The larger portion of this book's plot involves the kidnapping of Flashy's beautiful but scatterbrained wife, Elspeth, by a certain Don Solomon Haslam, a moneyed and mannered member of English high society who's not what he seems. Harry's determination to stay out of harm's way is severely taxed as he pursues Elspeth's rescue into the pirate-infested interior of Borneo, and later into Madagascar, where Flashy finds himself the slave of that island's mad and despotic queen, Ranavalona.

A chief attraction of Fraser's Flashman series is the knowledge it gives the reader about historical and factual, but arcane, events and places. In FLASHMAN'S LADY, the reader is apprised of the private war against the pirates of the East Indies by the eccentric English imperialist, James Brooke, and the reign of terror perpetuated by that female Caligula of the period, Queen Ranavalona I of Madagascar. Indeed, the author's research into the latter has prompted me to place a non-fiction history of the subject on my Wish List.

Deep down, I think, Flashy's personal appeal is based on the realization that he's Everyman, whether one would wish to admit it or not. Our natural preference is to escape, and it's only through blundering circumstance, good luck, or an odd quirk of fate that any one of us might, like Harry himself, be perceived a hero by our fellows.


One of the Best Flashman Books   August 24, 1998
5 out of 5 found this review helpful

Fraser outdoes himself in this adventure, arguably the second best in the series (after the incomparable Flashman, of course) finds Harry himself the victim of someone's lust and deviltry for a change--in the form of Suleiman Usman, a half-breed pirate who kidnaps Mrs. Flashman (bugger!) halfway around the world, leading to an epic chase involving a half-mad white rajah and a maniacal Malagasay queen. Fraser's witty prose and flawless research are irresistible; I finished the book in one day and wanted to start all over again.