The Salem Frigate

by John Jennings

A romantic adventure set on the United States frigate 'Essex.'

Genres: Historical Fiction

500 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1946

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

John Edward Jennings (1906–1973) was an American historical novelist, author of many best-selling novels of American history and seagoing adventure. He also wrote several nonfiction books on history.
Wikipedia

Reviews

[Dan Lutts · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book. Jennings sure knows his cultural, political, and naval history of the post-Revolutionary War era. I thought his description of the orlop desk, the lowest deck in the ship, where the doctors and their mates work by lantern light was good. I've read quite a lot of novels about the British and American navies in the 18th century, but I don't recall any of them mentioning the orlop. The encounter between the Essex and the British ships Phoebe and Cherub was interesting because it was mostly from the point of view of the doctor down in the orlop.

The title is a bit misleading, though, because little of the action takes place onboard the Essex, and most of it takes place on land. The part in Tripoli is particularly interesting.

I was interested in the subject matter, the First Barbary War, because my great great grandfather, John Lutts, served as a Marine onboard the Essex during that war.

I'd like to read Jennings' novel The Shadow and the Glory, which takes place during the American Revolution.

[Leo · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a story about how a chance meeting between two strangers can alter the well laid course one sets out to live. It's also a story about the need to grasp hold of one's life and live it before outside influences are given the chance to dictate its destiny. Set in the early part of the 19th century, the story follows the lives of two men and the women they love against a background of high-seas adventure. John Jennings knows his stuff and has an uncanny skill in weaving an adventure against the backdrop of history. The writing is superb and the characters come to life off of the page.

[Jon Hollihan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyable journey of a read, with such a variety of settings and clear explanations of items, manners and customs to be helpful without being boring. Fast paced, lots of action that takes the reader halfway around the world and back.

[marcia · Rating 5 out of 5]

although dated the adventures of Dr. Tom take us from Salem Massachusetts to Tripoli and places in between. All this over a love that keeps pat and he apart.
The complicated friendship to Ben or loyalty to Pat keeps Dr. Tom making decisions that take him to far away places.

[Kathleen · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's odd that, considering I really did not like this story, there were still elements that kept me reading (albeit slowly). It seemed to be a book that couldn't make up its mind whether it was a romance set against the backdrop of the early 1800s, or a story about the early days of our nationhood and its navy, with a smattering a romance thrown in. I pretty much wanted to whap the protaganist up the side of the head from time to time. The author's detailed research into those times and the different regions the frigate sailed to, not to mention life on board a frigate, are what saved the book and kept me reading.