{"product_id":"9781324021551","title":"The Commodore","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe seventeenth novel in the best-selling Aubrey\/Maturin series of naval tales, which the \u003cem\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/em\u003e has described as \"the best historical novels ever written.\"\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e  Having survived a long and desperate adventure in the Great South Sea, Captain Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin return to England to very different circumstances. For Jack it is a happy homecoming, at least initially, but for Stephen it is disastrous: his little daughter appears to be autistic, incapable of speech or contact, while his wife, Diana, unable to bear this situation, has disappeared, her house being looked after by the widowed Clarissa Oakes.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  Much of \u003cem\u003eThe Commodore\u003c\/em\u003e takes place on land, in sitting rooms and in drafty castles, but the roar of the great guns is never far from our hearing. Aubrey and Maturin are sent on a bizarre decoy mission to the fever-ridden lagoons of the Gulf of Guinea to suppress the slave trade. But their ultimate destination is Ireland, where the French are mounting an invasion that will test Aubrey's seamanship and Maturin's resourcefulness as a secret intelligence agent.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  The subtle interweaving of these disparate themes is an achievement of pure storytelling by one of our greatest living novelists.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Norton, W. W. \u0026 Company, Inc.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47041548353776,"sku":"9781324021551","price":15.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781324021551_p0.jpg?v=1763707715","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781324021551","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}