Hearty har har me mateys! Time to hear about a fellow grand and glorious sea dog . . .

So I am assuming most of me readers have heard of the fearsome Blackbeard who sailed the waters of the West Indies on the Queen Anne’s Revenge. What readers may not know if that very little of Blackbeard’s early life is known. This novel attempts to enlighten us on what could have been.

And a fun romp it was. The story centers on Anne, a half West Indies / half English daughter of a respected merchant. Her parents have died and she has found work as a servant for one of Bristol’s rich merchants. His son happens to be about to return from a year at sea and is . . . you guessed it, the young Blackbeard known at the time as Edward Drummond. The two meet and nothing is the same.

I truly enjoyed this novel. As a Captain who is familiar with Blackbeard’s legacy, many of the author’s forays into his history made me laugh out loud. She has certain “theories” on how Blackbeard came to have certain reputations (which I won’t spoil here) which were just plain excellent. I cannot say with certainty that I think this novel is the “true” story of the legend but it certainly was a fun one. Me mateys should definitely read this.

Side note: This was the author’s first novel. Excellent taste in choice of subject matter. Excellent job.

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