Percival Keene, a young man, is unable to use his father’s name in view of some reasons. Naughty and independent, he decides to serve in the navy, where, in the course of time the sea life hardens him, uncovers and strengthens his best qualities. During the years of serving Percival gets good friends, love of a charming young woman, as well as his father’s name and estate, which by right belonged to him.
This novel of Captain Frederick Marryat, an English novelist of the 19th century saw the light of the day in 1842. Just as all Marryat’s works, it appears a vivid description of its time. Points of human relations and social status often outshine the pictures of navy life, but in spite of everything, his novels are interesting first of all as artistic performances of the author’s 25-year-long life experience at sea.