The White Rajah by Tom Williams

[byslantedlight]

It's ages since I've started reading a book and then been 100% annoyed at the world that it won't let me just sit there and finish it all in one go, but The White Rajah by Tom Williams has totally been that book! As it was, it was there waiting for me in it's Amazon-cardboarded glory when I got home last night, and because Sir James Brooke is my new boyfriend (thank you foxcat74 for that rather brilliant description), and I'd already started White Rajah by Nigel Barley which is a biography of Brooke, but this was the novel of the biography of the... (well, of course it's not cos it's a novel, but it kind of is...) I had to sit down with it straight away.

And there is just something about it!

Granted, I was predisposed to be interested cos it's about Brooke, who I met at the National Portrait Gallery:

and fell in love with a bit because he's just got something, and fought pirates, and adventured around the world at the same time as all the boys I'd been researching for my defunct phd, and has curly brown hair and look at the way he's leaning on that rock! Also it turns out that he was almost certainly gay, and the novel is told from the pov of the bloke who fell in love with him... *g*

And that's the other thing about this book - it's not just a story about Brooke's adventures in Borneo, or about Williamson for that matter, it is a romance because they're shown to be totally, devotedly in love, but at the same time it's not a pile of soppy tat with one of them actually "the woman" (*headdesk* that that's even supposedly "definable"). It's their story, and it's the story of how Brooke came to be the "White Rajah" of the country of Sarawak, and it's a bit fab. It's about two people and something extraordinary that they did, and how they felt about it and dealt with it.

From the back cover:
Based on a true story, Brooke's battle is a tale of adventure set against the background of a jungle world of extraordinary beauty and terrible savagery. Told through the eyes of the man who loves him and shares his dream, this is a tale of love and loss from a 19th century world that still speaks to us today.

And it can be found here on Amazon, or if you're in the States directly from JMS Books - and ooh, look there's an extract here too... and just... go out and buy it!

Also, foxcat74? Next time I'm down, there's a churchyard on Dartmoor that we need to find... *g*

Comments

[foreverfoxcat.livejournal.com]

Ah, you're in the honeymoon period where you can't get enough of him, and everything he does seems wonderful and perfect. Aw, aint love grand? The novel sounds great, I shall add it to my wish list on amazon and maybe treat myself after my next pay day. And I'm always up for trawling round graveyards, you know that. :D I've never even heard of Sheepstor though, it must be really tiny!

And see, this is why I love the NPG. There are so many wonderful faces there, sometimes you just get completely struck by someone out of the blue. Next time we get the chance we should go back and spend a proper amount of time there.

Between me and my re-awakened love for Wilkie Collins and you and your first burst of passion for Sir James we're like a couple of love-struck schoolgirls, aren't we? Heeeeee.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Wait... how did you know it was Sheepstor? I was going to put that in, but decided not to... ohhhh, you did a quick google, you must have... and look how easily my James comes up! *g*

I've found the author's blogspot too, now - gaaah that he said he had trouble finding a publisher over here, cos it's a gay love story - honestly...

Heeee for being love-struck, innit grand! It's been quite a whilst since I last was, it's fun... And yeay for adding Sheepstor to the list for next time - hurry up, next time! (And Bodmin, too!)

And yes to the NPG, as well - it definitely deserves more time, I was thinking that as we whizzed around! Hmmn - there's always December, I guess... *g*

[londonronnie.livejournal.com]

And see, this is why I love the NPG. There are so many wonderful faces there, sometimes you just get completely struck by someone out of the blue.

Precisely what happened to me a few years ago with this -



I was totally smitten, and was chuffed to find a postcard of the same painting on sale in the shop. Needless to say, I bought one and I get it out and gaze at it every now and again.

Ah, but I haven't told you who he is! Sir Joseph Banks! Aint he lovely?

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Ha - I said the name over and over to myself cos it was so familiar but I couldn't work out why, and I had to google in the end - Australia! He's Captain Cook's Banks, of course! *g* And a very lovely chap he looks too... *g*

It is rather fun, innit! *g*

[snailbones.livejournal.com]

Oh, the beautiful lad in the National! I'm adding the book to my Amazon list - it sounds too good to miss, thank you.

Is that the Sheeps Tor near Burrator? Or are there two? I used to know it if it's the same one, but wracking my brain I can't recall the church.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

I had to googlemap to check, but it seems to be the same one! And there's definitely a church there - I can see the tower! *g* To the south east of the reservoir, if that helps?

He is a rather beautiful lad, isn't he... *g*

[snailbones.livejournal.com]

Ah ha! It is the Sheepstor I know... I did all my revision one summer at Burrator - but the church is on a different lane from the one I used to get there, so maybe that's why I don't recall it.

I'm doubly fascinated by him now.

[londonronnie.livejournal.com]

I think I'm another one who's going to put that book on my 'to buy' list. It sounds right up my alley!

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Oh, I hope you like it! It's not your big gushing swashbuckling m/m romance, it's far more subtley done, a bit Larton-like, that sort of gentle romance. Interestingly, I've just been googling The White Rajah again and found a review of it written by Erastes, and she really didn't like it. But I'm gobsmacked by the reasons she didn't like it, because she seems to have completely missed swathes of it - because Williamson doesn't gush about his love for Brookes she says there's nothing to show us that he cares at all! Except that there is, Williamson tells us dozens of times what he thinks of Brooke - he just doesn't explain it. It's brilliant show-not-tell. Which I'm guessing is a reason that I don't get on with books by Erastes and the like - no subtlety! They explain love to me, rather than showing me, and that's not what I'm after... It's odd, innit - I can't imagine wanting to read any other way, and yet so many people do seem to want that overt this-is-what's-happening in a story...

Rambling? Me? *g*

[moth2fic.livejournal.com]

I like some of Erastes' writing - but I don't trust her reviews. She gave the latest Temeraire volume (the one set in Australia) a poor review and I thought it was brilliant so our tastes are clearly very different! And yes, the things that attracted me to Tongues of Serpents were subtlety and showing...

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Hee - I've just said to you about Erastes' review down below, too... *g*

Erp for her giving the Australian Temeraire a poor review - because I've got to admit that I kind of do as well! I've liked all the others, but I thought Novak was losing the plot a bit in the Aussie one... but we may have disliked it for different reasons - I'll have to go and see what she said about it, out of interest!

[caffyolay.livejournal.com]

I've added it to my Amazon wishlist too.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Oh, I hope you like it! The m/m is on the Larton side of things rather than the "m/m romance" side of things, which is the way I like it... *g*

[caffyolay.livejournal.com]

I'm not fussed either way to be honest, as long as it's a ripping good yarn. A bit of implied m/m romance is fine. I just checked the library catalogue but they only have the non-fiction biography not this one. Shame. But I might get that when I've cleared my library pile a bit.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Well I thought it was a ripping good yarn, so hope you do too! *g* And mea culpa - I forgot to mention it was available on Kindle, sorry! Or I could loan you my copy, though this is one I definitely want back... *g*

[caffyolay.livejournal.com]

No worries at all about forgetting the Kindle edition. There's no reason why you should have thought of it. I didn't either! But I've just been and nabbed a Kindle copy for £4 so I'm a happy bunny. Something to read when things quieten down a bit. :-)

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Oh, I am pleased! *g*

[siskiou.livejournal.com]

He really *does* have something, and the book sounds great.
I suppose the library won't have it?

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

I don't know - it depends how your libraries stock up, I guess. It's published by an independent publisher, it's about an Englishman, and a gay romance, so...? *g* You could always request it, though and see what they come up with!

Oh, it's available on the Kindle too, though!

[msmoat.livejournal.com]

So far, only one library in the US owns it--Emeryville, CA. But it's a 2010 book, and not one that a lot of libraries would pre-order so more purchases should happen. You can request it through interlibrary loan, or even for purchase at your public library.

(Sorry to cut in, but it is my area of knowledge! *g*)

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

As far as I'm concerned, cutting in is always good - information and discussions happen that way! *g* Also, I love that the library which stocks it is in somewhere I know! I've been there! *g*

And dooo ask libraries to order it... *g*

[siskiou.livejournal.com]

Thanks for cutting in!
I just checked our library, before seeing this, and all they have is a book with the right title, by Nicholas Monsarrat, from 1961. Seems to be something totally unrelated.

[siskiou.livejournal.com]

Where do you find the Kindle version?
I wonder if it can be read on the Nook, too.
Will go and see what google says...

Found a link, where they also have a free ebook by Tom Williams (Voyage East)that also seems to have Sir James Brooke in it, or at least he is mentioned in the summary.
Have downloaded it and will see how I like the writing style.
http://www.jms-books.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=4&products_id=329

Here is the excerpt:
I can still remember the very first time I saw James Brooke.

It was in the Goat and Compasses, a low dive of an inn, even as sailors’ taverns go. I was there because I wanted to be alone to drink away the last of my pay and decide what I was to do for the future when the door was thrown open and in he came.

He was so much younger in those days, of course. We were all so much younger. I was scarcely a man, really, for all I thought myself cock o’ the walk. He was in his middle twenties, tall, good-looking with dark curly hair blowing untidily. I say good looking but, in truth, he was one of the handsomest men I had ever seen. He was of medium height but slim and swift in his movements, and he carried himself with the easy confidence that comes with wealth. It seemed to me he brought an energy and enthusiasm into the room with him. At first I thought it was because of the red soldier’s coat he wore over civilian trousers. (It was the coat of an officer of the East India Company and he had no business wearing it, having resigned his commission the previous year, but all this I was to learn later.) As he and his friends fairly skipped across to the bar, though, his gaze caught mine and the fire that glinted and shone in that glance was brighter than any red coat.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Oh, I didn't think he's got very far writing this yet - yeay! ...ah no, hang on - that's actually part of The White Rajah you've quoted there! I think he said in his blog that they were including the beginning of TWR somewhere...

Ah yes - aha! This is what you've found: NOTE: Voyage East is the opening scenes from the novel The White Rajah by Tom Williams. You've found the start of TWR!

I hope you do like his style... *g*

He's writing a sequel to TWR too though, which makes me happy, and I can't say any more for fear of spoilering people!

The Kindle version was at Amazon when I looked... and yes, here it is! *g*

[siskiou.livejournal.com]

That's even better! That way it can be sampled before buying. I totally overlooked the note. :)

Thanks for the link to the Kindle version (not that I own one, but maybe it can be converted.
Though the place I found it at has it in all sorts of versions, even for my old Palm TX, which is still my favorite reader.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

I have to admit I was briefly very excited when I saw it - I want his new book now! *g* Also, I really liked the cover... *g*

JMS Books is his publisher - apparently he couldn't find one over here, and he got the distinct impression that it was largely because it featured an m/m romance, and if it'd been m/f then he'd've fared better - hmmn. That would have taken away so much of the interest of it, though!

[hagsrus.livejournal.com]

I see there's a kindle edition pretty cheap.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

I meant to mention it was also available for the Kindle, but forgot!

[caffyolay.livejournal.com]

I never thought of checking to see if it's on Kindle....! Thanks for the tip off.

[moth2fic.livejournal.com]

Squee! They have a Kindle edition so I have it now, within two minutes of reading your post!! And it can go to Portugal with me tomorrow. Thanks for the link and review - it sounds wonderful, and the reviews on Amazon all seem to back up your opinion.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Well as you can tell, I thoroughly enjoyed it - I hope you will too!

I did come across a negative review for it, from the m/m romance writer Erastes, who didn't seem to get it at all - so it clearly depends on how you read, I guess! It looks like she wanted much more overt explanation of everything - things that I picked up in a look or an implication she doesn't seem to have seen at all, and she described it as a "dry read". I'd say it was anything but - and it may explain why I've not been keen on what I've seen of Erastes' own writing so far, we like completely different styles of writing! So - here's hoping that your tastes correspond to mine... *g*

[moth2fic.livejournal.com]

I already jumped in and commented to your earlier comment on Erastes' review - I would never take any notice of her!

[msmoat.livejournal.com]

Cool. And since I'm very like you in enjoying the show-don't-tell side of things, even more cool! *g* Now the only problem is that eternal one of no time! But I love the idea of a book that I really don't want to put down. Thanks!

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

It feels like a long time since I read a book like that - though perhaps it's partly the added spice of "my new boyfriend..." *g*

On the bright side, you have long plane trips coming up... and a kindle... *g*

[rosie55.livejournal.com]

I've downloaded a sample and will see how it appeals, I have so much on my Kindle waiting to be read, I'm trying to cut down a bit.
Hmmm, so you and I taking a fancy to that good looking fella in the portrait at Ickworth is just par for the course, is it, lol! Another somewhat fey individual if I remember.
A couple of days ago I downloaded a new app for the HTC called Google goggles - foc from the Android market. You scan books, pictures, landmarks and it searches for them and gives you the info it finds. So I tried it out on your smaller picture above (without the book title) and sure enough it came up with the right identity of the portrait and also found me the book with a range of places I could get it from including Amazon, both UK and .com. So even if you hadn't put the link, I would have found it very quickly. You can also scan things like menus in other languages and it will translate them for you. Very nifty and could be quite fun. M was quite sceptical about it until he tried it, then went off to download it to his phone so he could play too!

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Oh, I do hope you like it!

And heeee, I'd forgotten chappie at Ickworth! He wasn't quite as inspiring as James, though I do remember trying to find out some more about him, and nearly buying a book about him too... *g* Yes actually he was quite inspiring though, wasn't he... * g*

Google Goggles (downloading now... *g*) sounds like an extra cool version of that Sound Hound thing, where you can play music to the phone and it'll recognise what it is and who it's by... How very cool!

And ha - it's all downloaded now, and it is quite cool! It recognised my Banksy's Kissing Policemen, and James Brooke on my laptop - thank you! *g*

Actually I have a question - when I download something it quite often tells me that it means I'm giving the download permission to access all sorts of things that I'm not really comfortable with it accessing - have you noticed this? What do you do, just accept? Or is there a way around it?

Also I cleverly downloaded my ProsLib disk onto my phone - only to find that I can't delete files from it as I read them, gargh! Apparently the thing to do is download the Astro File Manager app, but that seems like overkill just for this - have you come up against this sort of thing?

[moth2fic.livejournal.com]

Just to let you know I read The White Rajah while I was away and adored it. Thanks so much for recommending it! I loved all the fascinating information about Borneo as well as the romantic adventurousness of it all. I'm still trying to find out what the Victorians used so much antimony for - any idea?

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Oh I am glad you adored it too - it's pretty good, isn't it! *g*

Antimony seems to have been used for all sorts of things - it was in make up and medicines, and in bullets and ball bearings and... apparently it's an element used as an alloy? Or that is an alloy? One of those basics, really... though I also gather that it wasn't the greatest idea to use it in things close to the skin, cos it was also poisonous... *g*

[moth2fic.livejournal.com]

I hadn't worked out the bullets and ball bearings... I think it's one of the ingredients in an alloy. Yes, poisonous, so the miners must have had difficult lives.

I think the portrait adds a lot to the novel - knowing he was real (if somewhat less than factually represented by the story) and being able to look at him and admire!

[moonlightmead.livejournal.com]

Guess what I just bought on my exciting new Kindle-toy?

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Oh good - hope you enjoy it! *g* (And I'm guessing that means your kindle-toy has arrived... *g*