The Romantic, by William Boyd follows the extraordinary life of Cashell Greville Ross. Born in 1799, he spends his childhood in County Cork where he lives with his aunt ... who, it turns out, is actually his mother. Cashell moves to London with his family and life becomes a little more complicated when his "aunt" seems to have suddenly acquired a husband and gives birth to two sons. Cashell thinks these are his cousins, but he later finds out that they are his brothers. All very confusing for a young man, and, despite a promising academic career, he decides to get away from it all by joining the army. And what do you know, he ends up at the battle of Waterloo where he is injured and sent back home. This experience gives him a certain standing with folk, but he is restless and doesn't really know who he is or where he wants to be. His journeys take him to Italy, where he meets the love of his life who, of course, is married. He leaves her and continues his travels, bumping into Byron and Shelley. He writes about his exploits, which proves successful on the face of it, but is swindled out of his money by the publisher. He joins the East India Company, goes exploring in Africa and eventually he ends up in America. Here he kind of settles down on a farm, gets married and has children, but it doesn't stick ... he has never truly gotten over his first true love ... and he ends up alienating his wife's family who then ruin him, and he is forced to move back to Britain once more ... but, of course, he doesn't stay there and his adventures continue and a further chance of happiness beckons. Over his lifetime he is a soldier, a farmer, a writer and a lover - he definitely lived the life of more than one man! There is so much to like about this book, well written and full of snippets of historical details from around the world. Cashell is a likeable fellow, and people are drawn to him easily, particularly women... but I couldn't quite tell why, as he seemed a little cavalier with the feelings of most people that he met. He seemed to be all in at the start, but then somehow never quite saw anything through. I felt it was definitely told from the male gaze and I really wanted some of the female characters to have a bit more gumption! That said, it was an enjoyable read and it was fun to travel with Cashell for many a mile. There is humour, war, deception, revenge, regret and love ... and a bucket load of history ... so a little something for everyone!
My STAR rating: FOUR.
Length: 464 print pages.
Price I paid: £3.99.
Formats available: print, unabridged audio download, ebook.
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