I must admit, I was a tad nervous about this one. I've loved all of the Flashman Papers that I've read so far, but I'd heard a bit of naysaying about this one. And, to be sure, the cricket stuff at the start of the book is rather unwelcome unless you have an actual interest in the sport (I don't). Author George MacDonald Fraser is a bit indulgent of his love for the sport here (in the first appendix, he describes it as perhaps the subtlest and most refined outdoor sport ever devised" (pg. 353)) and he doesn't really make much of an attempt to explain its rules or its terminology to the uninitiated reader. Consequently, we get sentences like "I've seen Mynn bowl to five slips and three long-stops, and his deliveries going over 'em all, first bounce right down to Lord's gate" (pg. 14) and "what kind of odds could he hope to get on my losing my wicket, for after all, I batted well down the list, and might easily carry my bat through the hand?" (pg. 57), which might as well be written in Hindi for all they mean to me. Nevertheless, the single-wicket match between Flashman and Solomon was surprisingly gripping – Fraser's such a great writer he can even make cricket interesting! – and all the cricket stuff does manage to set up the rest of the story well.

And what a good rest of the story it is, with Flashy globetrotting and getting into all sorts of scrapes with the usual rabble: pirates, head-hunters, mad monarchs and, of course, the obligatory bevy of beauties. It's the mad monarch here who deserves particular mention: Queen Ranavalona of Madagascar, a real-life nutjob tyrant (once again, Fraser's historical research comes up trumps) of whom Flash wryly notes: "She was quite mad, of course, and behaved like Messalina and Attila the Hun, either of whom would have taken one look at her and written to The Times, protesting." (pp239-40). The whole story is the same quality of ripping adventure one has come to expect from the Flashman novels and my early doubts about Flashman's Lady were well and truly conquered.

The best thing about the novel, however, is the 'Lady' of its title, for this is the one book (so far - I can't yet comment on subsequent books) where we really get to spend a considerable amount of time with Flashman's enigmatic and idiotic wife Elspeth. Her diary extracts – published at the end of each of Flashy's chapters – are a real treat as she offers up her own take on the events Flash has been regaling us with. (Her interpretation of Flashman's encounter with Mrs. Lade on pages 68-9 was particularly amusing.) There is a notable ambiguity in her extracts and her actions, and it is to the credit of Fraser's writing that, even with all the words expended on her, we still aren't quite sure whether she is an innocent simpleton or, as Flashman suspects, a randy little harlot with "a hearty appetite for the two-backed game", who "in my absence [had] been rolling the linen with any chap who'd come handy" (pg. 23). The dynamic between Flashman and Elspeth has always been enjoyable, but whereas in previous books it would only be expressed in bookend chapters – between which Flash would go off gallivanting in India or some other place – here, Fraser mines all that gold to novel length, giving Flashman's Lady a uniquely special place in the Flashman oeuvre.

"I felt my eyes sting, and I lifted her chin with my hand.
"Old girl," says I, "you're a trump."" (pg. 332)" ( )

If you are keeping track we are now ten years into the biography of Harry Flashman. This is the sixth packet of papers and introduces events between 1842 - 1845 which were previously missing in earlier manuscripts. Like an earlier packet, this installment was edited by Flashman's sister-in-law, Grizel de Rothschild and includes journal entries from Fashman's wife Elspeth. I think it's hysterical that Grizel cleaned up his "rough" language but left in his exploits with other women (because Flashman always gets his girl, whether she be an African queen or his own lovely wife). And speaking of Elspeth, Flashman has to turn his attention to her (more than normal) when she is kidnapped by a pirate who wants her for himself. Along the way (by way of Madagascar), Flashman is held captive by the ruthless Queen Ranavalona and forced to be her love slave (but of course). ( )

One of the better Flashman books, with Flashy genuinely seeking to rescue his wife, whom he genuinely does love (and vice versa) though neither is remotely faithful to the other ( )

There's just too much cricket at the start of this one! The story starts to improve after that though ( )

This is the sixth book featuring Flashman, the cowardly bully from Tom Brown's Schooldays who grows up to become an unlikely (and undeserving) hero of the British Empire in the 19th century. By now many of the jokes and situations have become familiar and though the locales are still exotic and unfamiliar, that's not necessarily enough to make up for a certain staleness in the tale. I suspect that the rest of the Flashman books are probably best read with lengthy intervals in between to combat over-familiarity. Still, this outing does have some transcendent moments, including what must be one of the most hilarious cricket matches set to paper as Flashman needs to beat his nemesis in a one-on-one cricket match on whose outcome his wife's reputation depends, while at the same time he must lose it if he is to stay on the right side of a dangerous match-fixing loan shark. ( )