Harbor of Spies

An extremely well researched and compelling novel combining a story about sailors working aboard ships still under sail and a little known stage of the American Civil War. In 1863 Everett Townsend a young man recently dismissed from the U.S. Naval Academy for cause and subsequently in disgrace is captain of a ship owned by his father and sailing with the mission of selling that vessel in Havana. Cuba has become a center for Southern blockade runners to pick up cargoes crucial for the Confederate war effort, run the blockade to Southern ports while evading the Northern navy, and returning bringing a cargo of cotton destined for European markets. It is a very dangerous but very lucrative venture when successful and Havana is therefore a good market to sell ships in.
On the way into Havana harbor Everett rescues a man escaping unknown danger and swimming towards the ship while pursued by sharks. This good Samaritan action results in jail for Everett with his release effected by a profiteering Spanish merchant who forces him into becoming captain of the merchant's blockade runner in order to pay the debt owed for obtaining his release from prison. Robin Lloyd's descriptions of the Cuban world of that period: huge plantations and very wealthy people,extremely poor people and slaves brought from both Africa and Jamaica to work the plantations are riveting and show the reader a world not normally depicted. For the blockade runners there are the dangers of both conditions of the ocean these ships sail on and the equally dangerous possible meetings with Northern warships hunting the blockade runners.
The writing flows rapidly with the reader drawn into the reward of discovering a world that is only 90 miles off the coast of the U.S. and at the time of the story a base for Union warships hunting blockade runners. Two factors enrich the novel. One is the solving of a mystery that has haunted Everett since childhood with the answer found on Cuba, and the other meeting a girl of great interest for him. Both of these situations help enrich the attraction of Mr. Lloyd's novel keeping the reader glued to the pages.
The ending is well done and logically based on the story told, but fortunately leaving a good deal of factors that could go into another book about Everett Townsend and the world he finds himself in. I hope that this will be the case and I will be looking for those novels when published.

Harbor of Spies by Robin Lloyd
It's 1863, America's Civil War is raging and 19 year old Captain Everett Townsend steers his blockade-runner schooner into the harbor at Havana. This young man had taken over the command of the schooner unwillingly when the original captain met his end during a horrific storm. While overnight at anchor in the harbor, upon hearing the cries of "help" a man called Michael Abbott was rescued and brought aboard. Colonial Havana is a dangerous city, with the heavy stamp of Spanish authority, you have to tread carefully. The story begins as Townsend is drawn into a mystery surrounding Abbott and a murder that happened 8 years ago. Trapped via this investigation, Townsend finds himself involved with blockade runners, as he becomes captain of a schooner running from Havana to Southern Gulf ports, where cotton is the cargo, and the runners are helping the Confederacy. We follow him as he explores Colonial Havana, to the sugar plantations where slavery is held in the highest regard, a fact that he is morally opposed to. He has much to learn, including the secrets regarding his own family history, that of his mother who herself was born in Cuba and left as a young woman. Becoming emotionally involved with a young woman, the daughter of an innkeeper, they both get caught up in the American Civil War, and the controversy over slavery. Spies abound, who is and who isn't, given that the English, the Spanish and everyone else have their fingers in the American war. There is money to be made and slavery to be kept alive and well both in Cuba and the Confederacy. Conflicted with his own morals and what he is doing as a blockade runner helps set the wheels in motion in a story that is exciting and intriguing.

Robin Lloyd paints a very good description for the background of this story. You cannot help but see in your mind's eye what Colonial Havana must have looked like in 1863. The color, the vibrancy of the city as well as the island of Cuba, despite the crime, and the authoritarian culture of the Spanish military, jumps out throughout the book. If you are a fan of historical fiction, if you enjoy reading books that keep you excited from beginning to end, this book is highly recommended. Thank you to NetGalley for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. I recently read the book on Benjamin Franklin, The Loyal Son, and this book wqas in that same vein. I enjoyed it very much

Harbor of Spies was an unexpected delight. A work of historical fiction that doesn't dwell too heavily on the romance or the lessons of history but instead just throws you into that world. The book follows a lot of the usual structures of an "every man" story because Everett is able to slip in and out of many worlds easily and if the story was about his internal world it would have been stunted but instead he's the ideal vessel for us to glimpse into the world of trade during the civil war. Robin Lloyd's research allows him to paint a world of subtle hues with enough light and shadow that it is easy to transpose ourselves into a different time and follow a path that feels effortlessly contemporary.

The book's pacing, drama and plot twists are even and I like that it's a book I can recommend to someone seeking a light novel and to someone wanting something that makes them think. Harbor of Spies scratches the surface of how trade, politics, race and making a living all criss-cross in meaningful ways. But, as in all good fiction, it is the characters and how they arrive at their choices that drew me in and made this book a new favorite.

Havanna during the American War between the States was a den of conflicting interests. It seems that everyone went there: Yankees and Confederates, Brits and Spaniards. The Cubans in the midst of it all, engaging, often, in two kinds of shady activities: running the Union blockade of the South and slave trading.

The narrator and hero of this excellent novel is from Maryland. He has washed up at the Naval Academy and his Cuban mother has recently died. He has signed on as First Mate on a schooner going to Cuba and becomes captain when the original captain is washed overboard one night.

In Cuba he has many adventures and becomes enmeshed in the conflicting loyalties and layers of complexity on the island.

The book was fantastic! It was very evocative and it was so easy to picture the people and places. It felt as if it had a leisurely pace but I found myself racing through it and unable to put it down.

I loved the story and the characters as well as the light it shone on the time.

Harbor of Spies is an intense and well written historical fiction novel set during the Civil War, (1863) and taking place from Havana to the USA to other parts of the gulf coast from Florida to Texas and many other places.

There is a lot of action and intrigue in this book and it was hard to put down once I started reading this book. A lot of things happened in Havana and there was plenty of wealth due to the sugar crops. A lot of this book takes place on schooners which were responsible for transporting arms and ammunition in the gulf.

The one thing I like about reading historical fiction, is all the issues and facts that are going on during the time the book is written about. This book was no exception and is rich in history.

I gave this book 5 stars and will be reading more by this author, as I really like the way this author writes.

A well-researched book that presents a side of the Civil War that isn't common knowledge. Take a journey with blockade runners for the Confederacy. Learn about Cuba, a land of many injustices.