Victory

by Susan Cooper

Two children cross an ocean, two hundred years apart. One is Sam Robbins, a powder monkey aboard HMS Victory, the ship in which Lord Nelson will die a hero's death at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. The other is Molly Jennings, a present-day English girl transplanted from London to America, fighting a battle of her own against loss and loneliness.

This extraordinary time-shifting adventure tells the interwoven stories of Sam and Molly, linked by a mystery. Sam is a farm boy, press ganged to serve in the Royal Navy. In the dangerous world of a warship enduring the Napoleonic Wars, he meets both cruelty and kindness, and survives a fearsome battle whose echoes reach through the years to involve Molly as well. Like him, she has lost her childhood but will find her future, with help from a very unexpected source. Two lives joined forever by the touch of Nelson, the greatest sailor of all time.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Historical, Fiction, Fantasy, Young Adult, Childrens, Adventure

202 pages, Paperback

First published March 2, 2006

About the author

Susan Cooper's latest book is the YA novel "Ghost Hawk" (2013)

Susan Cooper was born in 1935, and grew up in England's Buckinghamshire, an area that was green countryside then but has since become part of Greater London. As a child, she loved to read, as did her younger brother, who also became a writer. After attending Oxford, where she became the first woman to ever edit that university's newspaper, Cooper worked as a reporter and feature writer for London's Sunday Times; her first boss was James Bond creator Ian Fleming.

Cooper wrote her first book for young readers in response to a publishing house competition; "Over Sea, Under Stone" would later form the basis for her critically acclaimed five-book fantasy sequence, "The Dark Is Rising." The fourth book in the series, "The Grey King," won the Newbery Medal in 1976. By that time, Susan Cooper had been living in America for 13 years, having moved to marry her first husband, an American professor, and was stepmother to three children and the mother of two.

Cooper went on to write other well-received novels, including "The Boggart" (and its sequel "The Boggart and the Monster"), "King of Shadows", and "Victory," as well as several picture books for young readers with illustrators such as Ashley Bryan and Warwick Hutton. She has also written books for adults, as well as plays and Emmy-nominated screenplays, many in collaboration with the actor Hume Cronyn, whom she married in 1996. Hume Cronyn died in 2003 and Ms. Cooper now lives in Marshfield MA. When Cooper is not working, she enjoys playing piano, gardening, and traveling.

Recent books include the collaborative project "The Exquisite Corpse Adventure" and her biography of Jack Langstaff titled "The Magic Maker." Her newest book is "Ghost Hawk."

Visit her Facebook pages: www.facebook.com/SusanCooperFanPage
www.facebook.com/GhostHawkBySusanCooper

Reviews

[Judith Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this following on from the Ladybird book of The Story of Nelson, plus the Patrick O’Brian sea stories for adults, which I adore.

Superb storytelling of the very highest order. This is a book I will buy copies of or recommend for all the young readers that come into my life, as I do with Michelle Paver’s Wolf Brother series.

Vivid, moving, bringing a period and experience to life in the form for children, this book is deeply evocative. I can’t believe I’ve never read Susan Cooper’s work before, but I now have a treat in store.

[CLM · Rating 4 out of 5]

An appealing timeslip story by an author better known for her The Dark is Rising series. The story is split between 21st century Molly, a homesick English girl living in Connecticut with her new, blended family, and 19th century Sam, press-ganged by the British Navy at age 11, who ends up on Admiral Nelson's warship.

https://perfectretort.blogspot.com/20...

[Eoin Cody · Rating 4 out of 5]

Victory by Susan Cooper
This extraordinary book tells the tale of two very similar children who are both going through a difficult time in their life. However the twist to this story is that they both live centuries apart. Two children cross an ocean, two hundred years apart. One is Sam Robbins, a farm boy who was kidnapped and forced to serve abroad H.M.S. Victory, the ship in which Lord Nelson will die a hero's death at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. The other is Molly Jennings, a present-day English girl transplanted from London to America, fighting a battle of her own against loss and loneliness.
This extraordinary time-shifting adventure tells the interwoven stories of Sam and Molly, linked by a mystery. Sam is a farm boy, kidnapped by the "press gang" to serve in the Royal Navy. At first terrified and seasick, he is transformed gradually into a sailor. In the rowdy, dangerous world of a warship enduring the Napoleonic Wars, he meets both cruelty and kindness, and survives a fearsome battle whose echoes reach through the years to involve Molly as well. Like him, she has lost her childhood, but will find her future with help. Separate yet together, Sam and Molly struggle through fear and excitement to a final ordeal, which terrifyingly tests their courage. And the moving climax of the book shows two lives joined forever. From reading this book, adventure followed by scenes of emotion stand out for me in which I believe are two features that contribute to any good book.

[Littlerhymes]

The story unfolds over two strands, in the past with Sam pressed into service in the Navy on Admiral Nelson's Victory, and in the present day with Molly homesick after moving to the USA. This is enjoyable and the historical detail is so interesting, but the past sections are much stronger with higher stakes and the connection between the two strands seems a little forced and unsatisfying.

[Joan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I went out of my way to grade this the way I would other books, so it got 3 stars. However, in terms of Susan Cooper's ability, this probably should have been on the one to two star level. She never accounted for the fantastic element in the midst of realistic fiction. If you're going to suddenly toss something completely unrealistic into a book written as though it is realistic fiction, you have to account for how it could happen if you want the story to be "believable". Even when reading fantasy that works by its own rules, you have to obey the rules you've established and account for it. Cooper does this brilliantly in the "Dark is Rising" series. There she makes the interplay between the real world of Will's family and Will's group of Old Ones work. Here, she just doesn't seem to account for the fantastic element at all. The two individual stories were nicely told, with decent likable characters. Molly is pretty obviously based on Susan herself and how homesick she was for England. Sam is also well drawn and seems quite authentic. She did a fine job on those two stories which accounts for the 3 star rating. It was where she tried to intersect the two stories that she fell down on the job. I have checked out other Susan Cooper titles and hope they aren't as disappointing.

[Anna Richland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Seeing Susan Cooper speak recently while on book tour for Ghost Hawk reminded me how much our family enjoyed reading this book out loud in 2012. It is two interwoven tales, that of a modern Connecticut girl who finds a talisman in a book at Mystic Seaport, and an English cabin boy on Admiral Nelson's ship before and during the Battle of Trafalgar. This was one of many books our son read prior to a trip to London and Belgium, and one of his favorites. It was key to successfully understanding the epic sweep of history there. I think when he climbed on the lions at Trafalgar Square, he got it because of this book. After London, we stayed with friends near Waterloo, Belgium, and since there aren't many (any?) good children's books about the Battle of Waterloo, this was as close as I could get. It was sublime.

I recommend it for anyone traveling to London with children, and for anyone who loves Regency/Napoleonic war romances and wants to share that love with children.

[M · Rating 4 out of 5]

A light and easy read, Victory is a book I know I would have enjoyed had I read it at the age Cooper intended the book for. The story is told in alternating points of view, going back and forth between Sam Robbins and Molly Jennings, which tends to keep things moving pretty quickly.

While there are obvious connections between these two characters, the more you read, the more you want to know just why their lives would be connected. In the end, while I suspected what was coming, no matter how improbable it may have been, I really enjoyed how Cooper laid everything out and revealed all of the pieces of the puzzle. It was also interesting to have a glimpse of the history of Lord Nelson, even though it came in a fictionalized setting.

I think readers young and old could appreciate this story not only for its plot and setting, but also for the cast of characters. If you are looking for an adventure that won't bog you down but will keep you entertained, I definitely recommend Victory.

[Maggie V · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book went back and forth between Sam (pressed into service on the HMS Victory) and Molly (modern day English girl who moved to America). While each had their separate battles (Sam has to become accustomed to ship life, and Molly adjusting to her new life), they are connected through HMS Victory. I had assumed the time travel would be more similar to "King of Shadows", but nothing happened until the end. I was more interested in Sam's story than Molly's and was frustrated that the connection happened so late in the book.

Because it focused on the boy and girl character, many children will like it, but it seems hard to easily describe what "type" of book it is.

[Lena Nieke]

alright

[Kirsten · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay, I must admit that a main reason I liked this book was the character of Molly. Cooper did something with Molly that I haven't seen much of in fiction. Molly is a middle schooler from England, now living in America and very homesick. She also has epilepsy. What is really great about this book is that, although Cooper does bring it up and it does add some tension to the plot during a scene where she disappears on a tour of Admiral Horatio Nelson's ship, this is not the main thing we know about Molly, and it is not the focus of the story. It's just a part of who she is. Cooper doesn't condescend but she is not writing to educate us about epilepsy either. Victory is not issue-driven.



Also, since this is Susan Cooper, this is great writing. We get Molly's story, as she investigates a clue she has found in an old book about Admiral Nelson, and at the same time meet a young man pressed into service in the Royal Navy under Nelson. I never expected to get drawn into a book about a figure as remote to me as Admiral Nelson (yes, I know he is a hero in Britain, but I didn't know very much about him before reading Victory. Also, military history, biography, and fiction really aren't my main interest.) but Cooper brings both the contemporary and historical sides of the story to life, until finally they converge in an unexpected way. I enjoyed the entire book, but I especially appreciated the details of Molly's character. It is always a good sign for acceptance when characters who are black, or gay, or disabled, become characters in a story that addresses those things without making the character's difference the story. Thank you, Susan, for a great book that really gives me the warm fuzzies

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story is told in alternating viewpoints--one is Molly's, a modern-day preteen who has been forced to move to America from England, and the other is Sam's, a boy who finds himself conscripted into England's navy in the 1800's. They are connected because of a scrap of cloth (and for another reason, which I kind of guessed at long before the reveal at the end).

My enjoyment of this book depended on whose POV I was in. I was fascinated by Sam's world, especially when it came to life on the ship. Cooper really seems to know what she's talking about, and I can see myself skimming this book just to re-read about ship life and how the ship operates (but I'll admit this probably has to do with me being a writer and having a story of my own that takes place on a ship). I don't know the history surrounding this event, and so I had no idea what to expect, and Sam was someone I cared about, and so I couldn't read his chapters fast enough.

As for Molly... I found her annoying. I get it's hard to move to a new place (especially it being a new country), but all she did was whine about Americans and tourists and blah, blah, blah. It got old fast. Plus, her story just wasn't as interesting, as there wasn't much at stake compared to Sam's story.

Overall, I loved one half of the book and tolerated the other. I almost think this book would have been better if it was just Sam's story, but I think Molly's story did add just a little more depth, as her story was kind of the end of Sam's. I'll probably skip most of her chapters the next time I read this, though.

[Tea73 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it well enough, but face it after The Dark Is Rising Sequence Collection 5 Books Set By Susan Cooper all her other books are a bit of a disappointment. (Though The Boggart is an awful lot of fun. Anyway, I'd read most of Cooper's books until my kids grew out of them, and I stopped keeping up. This is a pleasant enough story where a character in the past has connections to a character in the present, but there isn't any actual time travel except a half remembered dream at best. The story is told alternating between Sam a young boy who is pressed into the British Navy and ends up on Admiral Nelson's ship (first person narrative) and Molly a somewhat whiney girl whose Mother has married an American and is having trouble adjusting to her new life (third person present tense.) I found the presentation somewhat irritating and it takes a looooong time before there's any connection between the two stories. The idea is intriguing, but the payoff just wasn't thre for me.

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed both threads of this book. Susan Cooper is writing what she knows, which is always a good thing: she obviously has researched the Victory at Trafalgar thoroughly, and the character of Molly seems to be a bit autobiographical. The story is interesting and compelling, especially because of my interest in my English ancestors, some of whom were seamen. Even though she admittedly takes a good deal of poetic license with Sam, she paints a vivid and realistic picture of life at home and at sea during the Napoleonic wars, and compares it to modern Molly's life.

The "haunting" connection between the two main characters was really unnecessary, derailing Molly's character development and lessening the impact of the layers of their *real* connection. Simply focusing on her understandable fixation on Sam, that had its roots in mockery of the England she longs for, would have been much more believable than awkwardly forcing some "woo" in here and there. I also puzzle over the first person past tense for Sam, but third person present tense for Molly. A good story well told, which this otherwise is, doesn't need the distraction of trendy style choices.

Despite my nerdy quibbles it's an interesting, and ultimately optimistic, insight into how the two children and others face death, loss, loneliness, change, and disappointment.

[Sarah Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a blend of history and modern time, a boy called Sam aboard HMS Victory and a girl called Molly in the 21st Century both struggle to find their place and control their emotions although they seem to connect through a scrap of fabric and they end up fine in the end.

I could not empathise with either of the characters and that reduced the impact of the book for me.

This review was written by a ten year old girl and reflects her experience of this lovely book:

The book is filled with beautiful imagery which enabled me to share the settings and atmosphere throughout the story.

I learnt a lot about 19th century life at sea, their values and attitudes and the way children were treated in those days.

The layout of the chapters clearly defines the characters and the dates to enable the reader to follow the story easily.

I found the compelling because the endings of the chapters were quite effective and intriguing due to clues Susan Cooper gives in order to whet our appetite for what comes next.

[Cheyenne Langevelde · Rating 1 out of 5]

The book showed promise. The prologue hooked me in immediately. But the rest of the book was a disappointment. Sam's POV was the only redeeming point in this story and the only reason I finished it, even though the ending could have been so much better.

The worst part of the story was the telling. Molly's POV is one of the worst things I've read in my life. I understand that present tense can work—I've liked it in at least one published book. But this was far too much telling. Telling and no showing. This is what ever writer is told not to do and I'm appalled that such a promising story was ruined by this.

Victory showed promise. It has potential. But unfortunately the potential was ruined through bad writing.

[Cindy Mitchell *Kiss the Book* · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cooper, Susan Victory, 208 p. Simon Schuster –

Sam has been pressganged onto Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson’s flag ship before the battle of Trafalgar. Molly has moved with her mother and step family from her beloved London to Connecticut, bringing along a severe case of homesickness. The two young people’s stories come together when Molly finds a piece of Admiral Nelson’s history preserved by Sam between the pages of a book. Books about sailing ships and sea battles seem to be doing well in many libraries. If this is the case in your library, then this will be a good addition.

EL, MS-ADVISABLE

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute story with somewhat surprising ending (and I can usually guess an ending a mile away.) Good snapshot of life in the British Navy in the early 1800s, nicely interwoven with story of modern girl. Lots of British pride in this novel, but not overly saccharine. One allusion (though well-disguised) to sex; one use of the word "piss"; some graphic descriptions of discipline and cruelty on board the Victory; and one somewhat jarring description of a fatality during the Battle of Trafalgar are the only mild moments for caution when sharing with younger audiences.

[Gregory Pedersen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book 9 of 2020. This book was elegantly written, historical fiction yes, but more history than fiction. I loved the connection between the fictional character Molly and Samuel Robbins, an actual boy who served on Nelson’s HMS Victory during the Battle of Trafalgar. Nelson’s figure is one of legend no doubt. This book inspired me to dive deeper into British maritime history from this time period.

[Hjwoodward · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had forgotten what an epic storyteller/author this woman is, and I'm so glad this book arrived in a pile from a friend. Cooper manages to weave adventurous stories with such clear detail (the Royal Navy's press gangs, for example. She evokes how absolutely frightening and brutal this practice was) and, besides that, she describes two children's strong and terrifying emotions while they show courage and resilience in difficult circumstances.

[Clare Butler · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually really enjoyed this book. It took place in two time frames which was interesting and I learnt s lot about Nelson and HMS Victory.

[Sheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed learning a little about Lord Nelson and the Battle of Trafalgar, which I knew nothing about. Although it’s. junior Fiction book I found it enjoyable and interesting.

[Emilou · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a cute story. I love Cooper's style.

[alyaa · Rating 4 out of 5]

delightful , trully

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I adored Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising series. This book had a neat supernatural element to it. And I like reading about the history.

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Susan Cooper writes historical time-travel novels second to none. I couldn't leave my chair until I'd finished this one. Brilliant.

[Robert Ellington · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent historical mystery. I learned a lot about ships in the early 19th century!

[Tuly Huntington · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love Cooper but can't get through this book.

[Heidi Browning · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting way to explore a young woman coping with grief and loss and change. Was expecting it to be more interwoven and have more of a payoff, but would have loved it as a kid.

[VioOceana · Rating 2 out of 5]

Had to read this for school...

[Thelemon-isinplay · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was the most boring thing I have ever read! It was worse than reading an autobiography by William Shatner! Molly was the whiniest, most complaining and ungrateful character I have ever had to read about. And don’t you even get me started on how biased she was about Americans! Not to mention that every American she interacted with was fat. No stereotypes should be in multi-cultural books. It’s extremely offensive.
I liked Sam and all, but I do say that he deserved everything that came to him on Victory. Ditto to his father with the head injury and Charlie. And what was with Lord Nelson? Do you really think that he would be excited by battle? That’s literally comparing an important historical figure to a Klingon!
My least favorite part of the book was when Molly recovered from her panic attack. I really felt that she deserved going insane as compensation for driving readers insane with her irritating personality. My favorite part of the book was when Molly was drowning. It made me smile so much, and when she realized she was drowning and started flailing in the water, I literally shouted for joy.
The bit of the book that confused me was the end. No, not the glossary, because that really was unnecessary to include so I didn't read it. But the bit where stupid, stupid Molly dragged the million dollar bit of cloth through seawater until it dissolved. Come on, she could have done so much more! If she had sold it, it would be her money, and she could bribe Carl’s company to ship him to Britain where they could live out their lives. Or she could have given the money to her family to help pay off debts or to pay mortgage or taxes or something like that. If she didn't sell it, though, she could have donated it to a museum and visited it every day.
But no. Stupid Molly must drag that bit of cloth that could make her life a lot easier through the freaking ocean in the middle of nowhere. That I don’t understand.
I would not recommend this book to anyone I know, because it was so horrible. I would recommend it for means of torture to get information, again because it was absolutely ghastly and so bad I wanted to die while reading it.
I’m sure Susan is a nice lady and all, but maybe a job behind a desk or something where she is not trying to be creative might be best. Being an aspiring author myself, but of the sci-fi and fantasy genres, I now know precisely what characters to avoid creating unless they are secondary and die quickly. But in that case, I’d really have to base them off of Molly or Sam’s father.
I do have a question for her, though; on the cover of my book, it said that she wrote an award-winning series. Seeing as I have suffered through her writing style, how is that possible?
It’s called ‘Dark is Rising,’ I do believe, so I will avoid it like the plague, I assure you. I do suggest you find a better style of writing, because the flip-flopping between times is a) really dumb and b) sometimes confusing as to why you needed the current bits. It might’ve been a slightly better book if it were Sam and his sister back at home, or just Sam. Can you tell me honestly that Molly wasn’t just filler in the book?
To tell you the truth, this book was one of the worst things I have ever suffered through aside from 'Manos: The Hands of Fate' and 'Brazil.' And those are hideously appalling!
This book should be erased from the minds of everyone who has ever read it. But if you want a good author, I suggest you look up ‘Dean Koontz’ or maybe even ‘Jeffrey Lybarger.’ And hey, look me up in a couple of years. When I finish my book, I’m definitely getting it published, so you can count on my name being somewhere within the depths of a Google search. Just like your name, actually, Cooper.