The Man Who Saved Henry Morgan
CBC Books | CBC | Posted: March 17, 2017 9:02 PM | Last Updated: July 11, 2017
Robert Hough
The year is 1664, and Benny Wand, a young thief and board game hustler, is arrested in London for illegal gaming. Deported to the city of Port Royal, Jamaica, known as "the wickedest city on earth," Wand is forced by his depleted circumstances to join a raid on the Spanish city of Villahermosa. The mission is a perilous success, and Wand attracts the attention of the mission's leader — up-and-coming Welsh seaman Captain Henry Morgan, whose raids on Spanish strongholds are funded by the British government.
While embarking on a campaign in the Caribbean, Wand and Morgan develop an unlikely friendship through a shared love of chess. As Morgan is corrupted by his increasingly sordid attacks on Spanish cities, he slowly becomes Wand's greatest enemy. To defeat his former ally, Wand embarks on a strategic battle of wits and must help Morgan in the most savage and unexpected way possible. (From House of Anansi Press)
From the book
The judge was a drunk bastard, all right — swaying in his tall-backed chair, that gin-rosin smell wafting off him, his nose a mound of headcheese run through with purple thread. I wasn't surprised. The world was filled with people who couldn't bear to be in their own company, and it made no difference if you were rich or poor, loved or loathed. Sometimes, there was only one thing for it.
From The Man Who Saved Henry Morgan by Robert Hough ©2015. Published by House of Anansi Press.