At the Captain’s Table
by Gervase Phinn
I’ve been a fan of Gervase Phinn for many years, devouring his bestselling novels set in Yorkshire Schools and the colourful characters that inhabit them, so I was intrigued to see what he would do with such a wide diversion from his usual subject matter. I’ve also been on a couple of river cruises (took me years to even contemplate one as I wasn’t sure I could cope being onboard with so many people that I didn’t know and not being able to escape!) though have never been on what I would call a proper cruise. I’ve been told about the grandeur, the night life, stopping off at various ports, the sumptuous meals and so on but not experienced it to that level myself.
The story is about a luxury summer cruise on the very grand ship ‘Empress of the Ocean.’ It screams luxury, relaxation, hot weather and interesting places and in some ways it delivers. There is a host of interesting, quirky characters who we meet constantly throughout the book. It is very like being on the ship itself, meeting someone briefly, exchanging a few words or noticing what they are up to and then spotting them again at a later date and getting to know them a bit better. On my river cruises, my husband and I took great delight in ‘naming’ many of the people we saw or met along the way in response to the way they acted or looked – there was the professor, the posh one, one named after a colleague of mine due to their resemblance and so on – it was a fun way to pass the time and this book felt very much the same!
The book is full of quirky characters and to be honest, at first, I was overwhelmed – there were just far too many of them and it took me a while to get my head around who was who, who was connected to who and who was doing what! But this eased as the story progressed and I got to know them better. The characterisations are equally as good as those in the school books, exquisitely observed and full of detail. Miriam and Edna are elderly sisters. Edna is very outspoken, selectively deaf, very manipulative and appears to have an uncontrollable walking frame which she uses to her advantage. Her constant malapropisms are patiently corrected by her sister. Albert and Maureen bicker constantly with poor henpecked Albert seeking solace in the laundry room on frequent occasions despite this being a place where feuds frequently occur. There is a good-natured vicar and his wife, a remarkable 12-year-old called Oliver travelling with his grandparents, the ship’s lecturers, dancers and stewards and the captain himself to get to know. And then there is Frances de La Mare who occupies the penthouse suite and appears standoffish, but is she just lonely? Chatty Sandra will spend time with anyone and everyone and annoying Neville, who appears to know or thinks he knows, everything there is to know about cruising makes regular appearances.
As we travel through the cruise, we learn more about each character and their interactions with each other, plus information about the places they stop at in the Med. Ultimately, all the passengers are jostling for a coveted place at the captain’s dinner table – but will that honour live up to expectations or are they in for a huge disappointment? Plans go awry, there are disappointments along the way and major upheavals for some of the characters to contend with.
The book is described as warm, funny and uplifting and in some ways I agree with this but there are also some deeper, more serious issues that thread their way through the storyline, catching you unawares and making you stop and think. Kindness, friendships, loneliness and the need to stop pre judging or making rush judgements of the people you meet through life are some. There’s not a great deal of plot to this book and the style is very different to the author’s usual one, but once you get your head around that, it proves a light, fun read and perfect for a holiday (or a cruise!) It wasn’t particularly realistic, so don’t let it put you off going on a cruise if you haven’t already been on one, but there are definite hints of people you may meet along the way if you do take the plunge!
Ultimately, what should be a week or so of luxury and relaxation as they cruise through the Mediterranean, turns into anything but for many of the characters on board the ‘Empress of the Ocean.’
