William Boyd is one of my go-to authors, I feel he will never disappoint - and again he's turned out another brilliant story. Set in the early 19th century, this is the story of the journey of Cashel Greville Ross. It's a geographical journey - travelling the world and encountering its colours and characters; a physical journey through boyhood to life as a man and father; an emotional journey as he experiences love, heartbreak, and skirmishes with criminality. Above all this is just a great story, packed full of inspiring characters and places. I've not read such a good story for a long time.

Interesting tale of a fictional man's life born in 1799, through to 1880s. A flawed man, making huge decisions with the best of intentions, rather quickly and completely ruled by 'fate' - reminded me a bit of Hardy's Mayor of Casterbridge. He was often prosperous but seemingly doomed to leaving those he loved, behind. I loathed his callousness at times, but his personality seemed shaped by his early, deceptive childhood (no spoilers here). He makes promises to return to people which he doesn't fulfill - maybe that's just how 'gentlemen' made their fortunes in the 1800s, travelling constantly. You want to shout out at his naievete sometimes - but then again it is this naivete that propels him fully into his next project - without it, he'd have had a much 'safer'/boring life. He has many, varied roles in life: Waterloo hero (and here's a confession - I've never thought of that battle taking place anywhere other than at sea before, lol - who's the naieve one now?!), soldier in Sri Lanka, explorer, author, felon, lover and family man to name a few. You do like the character, and curse those who take advantage of him - he doesn't believe in self pity but does examine his motivations towards the end of his life. Left me shocked and sad at the end. Loved Ignatz - I want a book on his life now!

The life of Cashel Greville Ross is never dull. Introduced to Cashel as an orphaned young boy in Ireland, the reader follows him as he lurches from one adventure to another, never staying in one place for long. Cashel is an ambitious yet flawed character who is at heart a romantic, and isn’t afraid of a challenge; even if it means assimilating to different environments and even changing his identity in the process. Featuring romance, calamity, and real historical figures and events, this globe-trotting epic will certainly entertain readers.

*I received a free preview copy of this book from NetGalley* William Boyd has the unfortunate affliction of having written a much loved novel and having his fans want him to write something as great again. And so as Any Human Heart covered a man’s life across the twentieth century, the Romantic does the same for the nineteenth. We accompany the hero Cashel Greville Ross as he grows up in Ireland and Oxford, fights at Waterloo, meets Romantic poets in Europe, journeys to America and spends decades pining for a woman he met in Italy. The novel is structured as a reconstruction of Ross’ own papers - complete with sketch maps and authorial footnotes. There is a great twist in the early part of the novel which I particularly enjoyed. We follow our hero, anticipating his naivety as he becomes embroiled in yet another money making scheme and willing to overlook the implausibility of a life that crosses across so many key events of the 19th century. The reason I’m giving this four and a half stars not five is because of the undeveloped female characters. Boyd spends paragraphs describing the main female character’s appearance but we learn little of her personality or why he pines for her over fifty years. Throughout the novel it seems no woman is immune to Ross’ charms or unwilling to sleep with him despite this taking place in an era before reliable contraception. The Romantic was an enjoyable romp and perhaps Boyd can be persuaded to find the diaries of a eighteenth century protagonist, who may have dined with Austen, Marie Antoinette and The Founding Fathers?

Cashel Greville Ross was born somewhere in Scotland on 14th December 1799, the same day George Washington died. He was to be relocated to County Cork, Ireland, not long into his life and in due course learned of a tragedy that had befallen his parents at that time. The story - a fictional autobiography - picks up his life from this point and follows it all the way through. And what a life it is. If I felt I’d trodden this path with Boyd before then that’s because I have: Any Human Heart and The New Confessions each followed the life of a man through the course of the 20th Century. I’d enjoyed both enormously and saw no reason why I’d feel any differently about this one, set a hundred years earlier. One of the tricks the author employs is to introduce notable events and figures into his narrative. In this book we find ourself a witness at the battle of Waterloo and meet distinguished figures such as poets Byron and Shelley and John Hanning Speke, the man who discovered the source of the Nile. It’s something that I initially found disconcerting in his earlier books but in time I grew to enjoy looking out for these contrivances. What it does help to achieve, I think, is to provide some historical context and also it’s a distraction from some of the more pedestrian activities that are naturally part of the subject’s life. Ross is a headstrong and an impulsive character, so his reaction to a situation or an idea is to rush into action. Often this means that his excitement or simply following his gut-feel can end up pushing him in some unpredictable directions. Sometimes this works in his favour but it’s a trait that also that causes him much regret and angst throughout his life. A rover by nature, he travels to mainland Europe, Asia, Africa and America as his various schemes and his travails play out. Travel and communications being what they were in the 19th Century it could take him months to reach a destination or even to get a message to someone in another continent. In consequence, his life is complicated, with a tendency for loose ends to be created. Cashel’s relationships with women tend to be interrupted by either his roving nature or his impetuosity. But there is one woman in particular with whom he becomes so besotted that their eventual parting becomes something that forever haunts him. This is a key theme that becomes a focus of his thoughts and actions as he reaches an age where he increasingly starts to reflect on his life. Can he eventually find happiness, or at least closure? This becomes something that I found had an emotional impact on me as I neared the end of this tale. I’d enjoyed it to this point but now I was somewhat obsessed about knowing how this would all conclude. Boyd is a supremely accomplished writer and once again he’s delivered a novel that’s grabbed me and taken me on a rollercoaster ride in the company of a man I grew to like and eventually to care for. I truly enjoyed my journey with Cashel Greville Ross with its many adventures, twists and turns, over the course of the best part of a century.