The Unlikely Master Genius
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4.7 • 17 Ratings
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- $4.99
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- $4.99
Publisher Description
Sailing Master Able Six, Royal Navy, is a man like no other. To call him a mere polymath is to sell him short. Someone with his extraordinary gifts should rise to the top, unless it is the 1800s, where pedigree and money govern Regency society, as sure as Napoleon seeks world domination. A bastard raised in a Scottish workhouse with nothing in his favor except his amazing mind, Able must navigate life ashore on half-pay during the uneasy Truce of Amiens, and find a way to provide for his charming bride Meridee Bonfort, a gentlewoman to be sure, but lacking a dowry. Assisted by two sea captains acquainted with his startling abilities, Able finds himself teaching mathematics and seamanship at St. Brendan the Navigator School, which is itself an experiment, taking boys like Able from workhouses and training them to serve the fleet in wartime. Meridee has agreed to invite four lads who need extra attention into their home in raffish, unsavory Portsmouth. Calling themselves the Gunwharf Rats, these St. Brendan lads show promise in an unpromising world. Can a sailing master-turned-teacher uncover their potential? Can Meridee find a way to nurture young hearts bruised too soon by life? What will happen when war breaks out again? And what is it about Able Six, the unlikely master genius? Volume One: The St. Brendan Series.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This sweet Regency story begins with the wedding and leisurely explores what comes after. Sailing Master Durable "Able" Six marries kind-hearted and penniless spinster Meridee Bonfort just days before starting interim employment at the St. Brendan the Navigator School, which trains workhouse boys for the Royal Navy. Gifted with the ability to remember and understand everything he's ever read, heard, or seen, Able (a former workhouse boy himself) looks forward to teaching mathematics and seamanship. With the Napoleonic Wars in a temporary lull, he knows it's only a matter of time before he and the boys in his care including the four youngest, whom Meridee readily agrees to board in their home are called to service and must rely on his lessons to survive war. Able is a quirky character who seems a little disconnected from the real world and tirelessly quotes his heroes, Euclid, Newton, and Shakespeare, but Kelly smartly surrounds him with charming, street-smart, and sympathetic supporting characters to bring him down to earth. Able and Meridee's relationship is important to the story, but it still feels mostly like romantic historical fiction, with no attempts made to respect the conventions of the romance genre.
