Annapolis by William Martin is a good fit for those who are interested in historical fiction that explores the proud traditions and romanticized ideals of the United States Navy, with a focus on the Stafford and Parrish families’ contributions to the nation’s military history.
The characters were placed for the sake of having characters and showcasing historical events. That isn’t to say that I didn’t like them, but they were not that well-developed, and once we hit the American Civil War, I had a hard time keeping up with who was who. There is also a lot of white saviorism in this book, and I know many people don’t like to read that, so I did want to make note of it in my review.
As you can tell by the title, the majority of the story takes place in Annapolis and the surrounding shores of the Chesapeake. The writing of the setting was spot-on, based on my own experiences in the area. It was so vivid and touched on all the senses.
The writing was fine. I liked how we had the two timelines and that the ‘historical’ settings were a part of a book that one of the characters was writing. However, it was episodic, and I think that is why I had a hard time connecting with the characters. There were a lot of loose ends between time periods that had me questioning. It was an interesting premise and take on a typical historical fiction novel.
The plot is the part that I am most excited to write about. As stated with the characters, I think the author really wanted to show the history of the navy as well as this country. The story was episodic, going from one war to the next. This book was very informative, and I learned a lot about some more forgotten bits of American history like fighting with Barbary pirates, the founding of the Navy, the War of 1812, and the Spanish-American War. However, WWI and Korea still remain forgotten. I learned a ton though, and that is my goal from reading.
The characters seemed to be placed primarily to serve as vehicles for showcasing historical events, but the vivid atmosphere evoked by the writing truly engaged the senses. The premise offered an intriguing take on the typical historical fiction novel. Despite some flaws, I found the book informative and fulfilling my goal of learning from reading. Overall, I would recommend it as a good read.
3.25 out of 5 stars.
Izzy Reads 