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Patrick O’Brian: A Very Private Life
An intimate portrait of Patrick O’Brian, written by his stepson Nikolai Tolstoy.
Patrick O’Brian was one of the greatest British novelists of the twentieth century, securing his place in literary history with the bestselling Aubrey–Maturin series, books that have sold millions of copies worldwide and been hailed as the best historical fiction of all time.
An exquisite novelist, translator and biographer, O’Brian moved in 1949 to Collioure in the south of France, where he led a secluded life with his wife Mary and wrote all his major works. The twenty books that make up the beloved Aubrey–Maturin series earned O’Brian the epithet ‘Jane Austen at sea’ for their authentic depiction of Nelson’s navy, and the relationship between Captain Jack Aubrey and his friend and ship’s surgeon Stephen Maturin. Outside his triumphant popularity in fiction, O’Brian also wrote erudite biographies of both Pablo Picasso and Joseph Banks, as well as publishing translations of Simone de Beauvoir and Henri Charrière.
In A Very Private Life, Nikolai Tolstoy draws upon his close relationship with his stepfather, as well as his notebooks, letters and photographs, to capture a highly researched but intimate account of those fifty years in Collioure that were the richest of O’Brian’s writing life. With warm and honest reflection, this biography gives insight into the genius of the little-known man behind the much-loved writing. Tolstoy also tells how, through a sad irony, unjust attacks on O’Brian’s private life destroyed much of the happiness he had gained from his achievement just as his literary career attained greater acclaim.
Patrick O’Brian was one of the greatest British novelists of the twentieth century, securing his place in literary history with the bestselling Aubrey–Maturin series, books that have sold millions of copies worldwide and been hailed as the best historical fiction of all time.
An exquisite novelist, translator and biographer, O’Brian moved in 1949 to Collioure in the south of France, where he led a secluded life with his wife Mary and wrote all his major works. The twenty books that make up the beloved Aubrey–Maturin series earned O’Brian the epithet ‘Jane Austen at sea’ for their authentic depiction of Nelson’s navy, and the relationship between Captain Jack Aubrey and his friend and ship’s surgeon Stephen Maturin. Outside his triumphant popularity in fiction, O’Brian also wrote erudite biographies of both Pablo Picasso and Joseph Banks, as well as publishing translations of Simone de Beauvoir and Henri Charrière.
In A Very Private Life, Nikolai Tolstoy draws upon his close relationship with his stepfather, as well as his notebooks, letters and photographs, to capture a highly researched but intimate account of those fifty years in Collioure that were the richest of O’Brian’s writing life. With warm and honest reflection, this biography gives insight into the genius of the little-known man behind the much-loved writing. Tolstoy also tells how, through a sad irony, unjust attacks on O’Brian’s private life destroyed much of the happiness he had gained from his achievement just as his literary career attained greater acclaim.
- GenresNonfiction
593 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 17, 2019
6 people are currently reading
46 people want to read
About the author
Nikolai Tolstoy
33 books35 followersCount Nikolai Dmitrievich Tolstoy-Miloslavsky (Russian: Николай Дмитриевич Толстой-Милославский; born 23 June 1935) is an Anglo-Russian author who writes under the name Nikolai Tolstoy. A member of the Tolstoy family, he is a former parliamentary candidate of the UK Independence Party.
Source: Wikipedia
The photograph by Justin K Prim.
Source: Wikipedia
The photograph by Justin K Prim.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 31, 2020
First off, this was much easier to read than the previous volume that deal with PO'B's early life. That previous one seemed to get bogged down in detail and analysis that didn't feel necessary or relevant unless you absolutely needed to know every detail of where he may or may not have lived or visited during the less-documented part of his life.
Thankfully the author seems to have learned from that and this second half is much more narrative-focused - and crucially, covers a part of O'Brian's life that feels more interesting as we find out how he came to write his most famous works. The author continues to respond to false and misleading claims made by other biographers where necessary, but not in as much obsessive detail as in the first book. The fact that this book covers the period where the author became part of O'Brian's family mean he is able to give numerous first-hand accounts and memories which add to the book and help to show that previous assessments of O'Brian's character and personality have largely come from those who didn't know him to the same extent and may well have misunderstood him.
If you haven't read the first book, there are recaps of the key previous details at times - as well as in the Appendices. It would probably be easier to rely on these rather than slogging through the first book, in my opinion. The whole thing could probably have been condensed into one volume, but as I said, this second part is much better and more enjoyable than "The Making of the Novelist".
Thankfully the author seems to have learned from that and this second half is much more narrative-focused - and crucially, covers a part of O'Brian's life that feels more interesting as we find out how he came to write his most famous works. The author continues to respond to false and misleading claims made by other biographers where necessary, but not in as much obsessive detail as in the first book. The fact that this book covers the period where the author became part of O'Brian's family mean he is able to give numerous first-hand accounts and memories which add to the book and help to show that previous assessments of O'Brian's character and personality have largely come from those who didn't know him to the same extent and may well have misunderstood him.
If you haven't read the first book, there are recaps of the key previous details at times - as well as in the Appendices. It would probably be easier to rely on these rather than slogging through the first book, in my opinion. The whole thing could probably have been condensed into one volume, but as I said, this second part is much better and more enjoyable than "The Making of the Novelist".
March 7, 2020
Feel guilty of invading his privacy, but enjoyed anecdotes about his writing; wish there had been more background on his creation of characters and plot.
April 15, 2025
I struggled with the distinction between this as a biography of its subject and a partial autobiography of the author.
Having the author write in first person and reference so many others, apart from Patrick O'Brian as the main subject, relative to himself (my mother, my grandparents, etc) rather than to Patrick ('his wife', 'his parents in law', etc) was both a little confusing, requiring as it did a bit of mental gymnastics to work out the relevant connection to Patrick, but also I think prevented the author from achieving the objectivity so necessary to credibility.
The author's main advantages are a long and close family relationship and access to private records and documents, so his is likely to be the closest to an accurate account of the life under review. However the close personal relationship is only very occasionally recognised to create a very positive bias. Nor does he acknowledge that O'Brian is very unlikely to have been totally transparent with him as a stepson anymore than anyone else, even though he notes an increase in what O'Brian shares with him after O'Brian's primary confidante, his wife Mary, had died.
Structurally, I found most of the early section very hard to follow, being evidently set out chronologically but in fact skipping back and forth a great deal. I noted repetitions of some material, understandable perhaps but only occasionally acknowledged as 'as previously' or similar, which was confusing.
Most irritating though was the author's use of this platform, a book about his very famous stepfather, to re-hash in detail quite superfluous to the narrative, his own legal issues. As I noted earlier, the book was about O'Brian, not Tolstoy.
When considering my final opinion of the book, I also have to be consistent in either concluding based upon the book as an independent work, or through the prism of my opinion, such as it can be based on publicly available information, of the author. For O'Brian, who tried so hard to maintain a separation between the two, I find this fairly easy. I probably would have respected him as a scholar and author but would have struggled with some aspects of a difficult character, which appear to have in common some elements I have found impossible to continue to include in my own life.
For Tolstoy, I hope I am not too inconsistent in setting this distinction aside, given that he doesn't attempt to make it himself, and find it significantly lowered my appreciation of the book. After all, O'Brian wanted to be private and not nearly so much of his life needed to be made public to refute the (I imagine most distressing) allegations made against him in later life. So who was it really written for?
Having the author write in first person and reference so many others, apart from Patrick O'Brian as the main subject, relative to himself (my mother, my grandparents, etc) rather than to Patrick ('his wife', 'his parents in law', etc) was both a little confusing, requiring as it did a bit of mental gymnastics to work out the relevant connection to Patrick, but also I think prevented the author from achieving the objectivity so necessary to credibility.
The author's main advantages are a long and close family relationship and access to private records and documents, so his is likely to be the closest to an accurate account of the life under review. However the close personal relationship is only very occasionally recognised to create a very positive bias. Nor does he acknowledge that O'Brian is very unlikely to have been totally transparent with him as a stepson anymore than anyone else, even though he notes an increase in what O'Brian shares with him after O'Brian's primary confidante, his wife Mary, had died.
Structurally, I found most of the early section very hard to follow, being evidently set out chronologically but in fact skipping back and forth a great deal. I noted repetitions of some material, understandable perhaps but only occasionally acknowledged as 'as previously' or similar, which was confusing.
Most irritating though was the author's use of this platform, a book about his very famous stepfather, to re-hash in detail quite superfluous to the narrative, his own legal issues. As I noted earlier, the book was about O'Brian, not Tolstoy.
When considering my final opinion of the book, I also have to be consistent in either concluding based upon the book as an independent work, or through the prism of my opinion, such as it can be based on publicly available information, of the author. For O'Brian, who tried so hard to maintain a separation between the two, I find this fairly easy. I probably would have respected him as a scholar and author but would have struggled with some aspects of a difficult character, which appear to have in common some elements I have found impossible to continue to include in my own life.
For Tolstoy, I hope I am not too inconsistent in setting this distinction aside, given that he doesn't attempt to make it himself, and find it significantly lowered my appreciation of the book. After all, O'Brian wanted to be private and not nearly so much of his life needed to be made public to refute the (I imagine most distressing) allegations made against him in later life. So who was it really written for?
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews