Clarissa Oakes cover art

Clarissa Oakes

Aubrey-Maturin Series, Book 15

 Preview
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free
Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.
Prime members: New to Audible? Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Just £0.99/mo for your first 3 months of Audible.
1 bestseller or new release per month—yours to keep.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, podcasts, and Originals.
Auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

Clarissa Oakes

By: Patrick O'Brian
Narrated by: Ric Jerrom
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly. Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £15.99

Buy Now for £15.99

LIMITED TIME OFFER | £0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Premium Plus auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Terms apply.

About this listen

Captain Jack Aubrey sails away from the hated Australian prison colonies in his favourite vessel the Surprise, pondering on middle age and sexual frustration. He soon becomes aware that he is out of touch with the mood of his ship: to his astonishment he finds that in spite of a lifetime's experience he does not know what the foremost hands or even his own officers are thinking.

They know, as he does not, that the Surprise has a stranger aboard: and what they, for their part, do not know is that the stranger is potentially as dangerous as a light in the powder magazine itself.

©1992 Patrick O'Brian (P)2014 Audible, Inc. Contemporary Fiction Fiction Genre Fiction
All stars
Most relevant
As always the characterisations and story are captivating for those of us who follow Lucky Jack and Stephen Mturin through their voyages. For me again it is made all the more enjoyable by the fantastic narration of Ric Jerrom. I love my audio books replacing the little time I have for reading these days with the joys of listening to a master telling me the story as i travel to and from work. He seems to have the knack of making all the characterisations real and enjoyable and unlike many narrators it does not grate when a male narrator tries to dramatise a female character. Enjoyable stuff as always. On to the next one. As long as they keep churning out the books narrated by Mr Jerrom I will keep downloading them. Thanks Audible and thanks Ric

Fantastic again....

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
one of the very best in the series. exciting, characterful, a masterwork. O'Brien is truly unequalled in style, content and narrative, and the depth of his research is always astounding. he raises the historical novel to be the equal of the best in literature.

fantastic!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Not a bad listen but did get lost with it now and again but ok .

Clarissa Oakes

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Patrick O'Brian's four-novel sequence of Aubrey and Maturin's great voyage around the world is an incredible achievement, especially considering it didn't begin until the 13th book in the series. But if there's one that's slightly less satisfying than the others, perhaps it's this. O'Brian is clearly fascinated by the character of Clarissa Oakes and the effect she has on the ship's company, but the way it plays out leaves credibility stretched thin. Stop reading now if you'd rather avoid spoilers...

...but the way O'Brian seeks to explain Clarissa's apparent willingness to sleep with every officer in the ship, (excepting Jack and Stephen) just doesn't wash. No joy from the physical act of love after a childhood of abuse...okay, we'll buy that. Though surely that would make someone less willing, rather than more? Ignorant of men and the social contracts around adultery...no, that doesn't really wash. Yes, there was the sheltered up-bringing, but then she kept the accounts in a brothel, killed someone, endured arrest, trial and transportation. A steep learning curve in every aspect of real life and common sense. And she likes to be liked. Well, so do we all, but not to THAT extent.

The other thing that dips slightly below the usual O'Brian standard is the lack of action. Not just action in the military sense but of anything really happening. There's a situation elsewhere in the Pacific that needs dealing with and they eventually get round to it, but that's your lot in the ten lengthy chapters. Otherwise, all the good stuff is still present: the characters, the language, the botanising, the seamanship, the letter-writing. But as a book, it's really just one extended chapter in a longer story. On to The Wine-Dark Sea!


A weak (ish) link?

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Not sure why you need a review of this book. You're either well invested by now, and know what to expect or you should start at the beginning!

That aside, another naval romp in the same vein as previous entries in the series. Not the best of them but solid nonetheless

More of the same

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews