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The Gathering Storm
The Gathering Storm
Jun 9, 2025 12:17 AM

Author:Peter Smalley,Michael Tudor Barnes

The Gathering Storm

Spring 1791

Though deeply disturbed by a terrible incident during his previous commission, James Hayter is nevertheless on the verge of taking command of HMS Sloop Eglantine as Master and Commander when personal tragedy shatters his life. The twin blows convince Hayter that he is not fit to command and he must turn his back on the sea forever. Even the intervention of his friend and former captain, William Rennie cannot not dissuade him from derelicting his duty.

Though repenting in the end of his decision, Hayter's career in the Navy appears to be over until the intervention of an agent, Mr Brough Mappin, working for Hayter's old nemesis, the British Secret Service Fund.

Mappin's plan offers Hayter a chance to revive his career on a special mission, with the promise of reinstatement in the Royal Naval List if he is successful. But it is also the single most dangerous mission of his life. He must sail for France with Rennie in HMS Expedient and there rescue some persons of interest from the grasp of the French Revolutionary forces searching for them.

What no one mentions is that the rescue will bring to bear on Expedient and her crew, a force so fierce and mighty that, if it can, it will wipe all trace of the incident, Hayter and the ship from the memory of everyone involved in the forthcoming struggle.

Reviews

Open the covers of Jilly Cooper's latest novel and you lift the lid of a Pandora's box. From the pages flies a host of delicious and deadly vices... Cooper's sheer exuberance and energy are contagious... Cooper fans will be waiting eagerly for the next novel

—— The Times

The whole thing is a riot - vastly superior to anything else in a glossy cover

—— Daily Telegraph

This is Jilly in top form with her most sparkling novel to date

—— Evening Standard

One reads her for her joie de vivre, her maudlin romanticism, her love of arty references and her razor sharp sense of humour. Oh, and the sex

—— New Statesman

Cooper is astute when describing the complex relationships between men and women. She's also on the nail when it comes to teenage-speak and can bring the English countryside alive more deftly than many literary stars... She's irresistible... Like Harvey Nicks and the promise of romantic dalliance, she frees you from the daily drudge and deposits you in an alternative universe where love, sex and laughter rule

—— Independent on Sunday

A new Jilly Cooper novel guarantees a great summer for everyone... She tells a marvellous story with total conviction, and also hooks the reader from the first page. Her latest, an irreverant look at the international art world is full of fun and sex - and quite unputdownable. This is Jilly at her irrepressible best

—— Publishing News

Pandora is a smart portrait of the venal, greedy and pretentious underbelly of the high art scene... Most impressive is [Cooper's] gift for crowd scenes... Cooper moves her cast about in ways that elaborate their characters, fuel the plot and ensure that set pieces are never boring

—— Irish Independent

Pandora is the best book Jilly has produced since Rivals... the action is priceless

—— Sunday Express

Triumphantly good

—— The Sunday Times

The prospect of Jilly's return, with a novel set in the glamorous international art world and promising "oodles of bad behaviour, intrigue, passion, tears and laughter", will surely cheer all but the most misanthropic

—— Bookseller

There is enough plot for several novels here (enough sex for dozens), all vividly conveyed in the author's excitable style... Her many fans will not be disappointed

—— Literary Review

Harris does it again with this brilliantly told tale.

—— THE SUN

Voluptuous helpings of magic, mystery, love and, of course, mouthwatering discriptions of her favourite chocolates, combine to make a rich, satisfying story that should keep you riveted to your sun lounger page after page

—— SHE magazine

The Lollipop Shoes is a sensory fantasy, Harris writes with an original and satisfying poetic flair.

—— DAILY TELEGRAPH

...the magic still enchants

—— MAIL ON SUNDAY

...a sumptuous treat.

—— HEAT Magazine, May 2007

...a sensory fantasy, Harris writes with an original and satisfying poetic flair. Harris is a delicious treat.

—— DAILY TELEGRAPH

This novel has the richness of the best quality dark chocolate.

—— INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY

Sparkling black comedy

—— Play

Pearson is a hilarious author who captures the guilt and the exhaustion of the working mother's life perfectly

—— Dublin Daily

It's the incisive details and Pearson's vivid writing that propel the story

—— New York Times Books

Smart book...great fun

—— New York Times

Pearson is insightful, witty and full of fun

—— Daily Telegraph

Wonderfully warm, witty and intelligent

—— Sunday independent

A Bible for the working woman

—— Oprah Winfrey

Her social observation is unerringly accurate...so beautifully written that it brought tears to my eyes, as well as a wry smile

—— Daily Telegraph

Pearson...to write a novel...that has already sold a gazillion copies and is going to become a film. Hats off to you, madam!

—— Ok Magazine

She will...make you laugh

—— Culture, Sunday Times

Pearson...has made it all fresh again

—— Time

Entertaining, compulsively readable, and brilliantly written

—— Daily Candy

Hilarious and...poignant

—— Publisher's Weekly

This terrific novel is alternately hilarious and sad

—— Upfront

It may change your life

—— The Observer

Pearson is a very witty and moving writer. Her prose is spare and skilful...waspish truisms and spot-on social observations

—— Daily Express

Intelligent, witty and of-the-moment, it mixes sassy, brittle perceptions with barefaced sentimentality

—— The Herald, Glasgow

Brilliantly captures and defines the mood of the moment...sparkling wit and razor sharp insights

—— XW Magazine

Sharply observed and frequently funny

—— Evening Standard
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