The Last Duel by James Spivey: a review
The Last Duel is the debut novel of James Spivey and takes place against the backdrop of Victorian England and the bloody battlefields of the Crimean War. It’s a fast-paced tale of family feuds, star-crossed lovers and the kind of military incompetence that is hard to believe and at times even harder to read.
Spivey’s style is energetic and keeps the story moving along. He has clearly done a lot of research but manages to keep military detail from swamping his narrative. He freely acknowledges his love of traditional historical fiction, particularly the Flashman series and there are a few delicately dropped references to other books which were fun to spot. This isn’t a copy though, or even a tribute.
What I liked about the book was the characterisation. Spivey’s characters, both real and fictional are lively, entertaining and believable. It’s easy to over-write feuding brothers into caricatures of good and evil, but Harry and Jack Paget are both flawed and at times both vulnerable.
It is his portrayal of his female characters that really impressed me. For anyone who has read her diaries, Fanny Duberly is clearly a gift to any historical novelist and Spivey makes the most of her. It is Eliza however who steals the show, and to some extent runs away with the book.
All in all, a thoroughly good first novel and I hope to see more from James Spivey in the future.
The Last Duel is available on Amazon on both Kindle and Paperback