Book
Tested by Fate
First published 2004
In 1784, Nelson sails to the Caribbean to enforce the Navigation Acts and marries the widowed Fanny Nisbet. His return to war brings battles at Cape St Vincent, Tenerife and the Nile, winning fame while leaving permanent physical and emotional injuries.
Emma Lyon becomes the mistress and then wife of Sir William Hamilton in Naples. When Nelson enters their circle, the attraction between him and Emma grows alongside his public reputation, placing both marriages under increasing strain.
Nelson’s rise is inseparable from the strategic demands of the wars against Revolutionary and Napoleonic France. His victories bring fame but also physical injury, strained domestic relationships and increasing dependence on public reputation. The novel treats command as a process of accumulating both authority and personal cost, leading toward the figure who will later become a national symbol.
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