The Rover's Secret

Lionel Lascelles recalls a London childhood shaped by his father's unpredictable affection. Cuthbert Lascelles, a celebrated painter, sometimes welcomes his son warmly into the studio and sometimes dismisses him after studying their faces together in a mirror. Mary the nursemaid and Mrs Wilson the housekeeper provide much of the boy's daily company, while his attempts to learn reveal both a love of reading and the limits of lessons learned by repetition.

Harry Collingwood places this troubled family history within a sea adventure involving sailors, the Royal Navy and the pirate waters of Cuba. Later letters from Cuthbert connect his failing health and longstanding distress with Lionel's mother, while news of the mutiny aboard the Hermione brings the son's safety into question. The first-person account offers an unusual combination of childhood recollection, maritime danger and uncertain family loyalties. Readers interested in naval fiction can also follow the emotional puzzle behind the father's shifting treatment of Lionel.