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A review by gmzzn
Pirate Queens: The Lives of Anne Bonny & Mary Read by Rebecca Alexandra Simon
5.0
(I received a free digital copy of this book via Netgalley!)
Every time I get the chance to learn more about a pirate I jump in joy despite knowing that most of the book will be full of speculations and narration coming from vague historical records. Even so, with all the hardship of doing historical research, especially over figures with so little documentation and a certain amount of fiction that contributes to the confusion around them, Simon did a wonderful job recreating the lives and experiences of Anne Bonny and Mary Read.
The author starts with Anne and Mary’s mothers, or what was possible to find about them and what could be possible considering their context in history, creating scenarios for how things could’ve been. Simon does the same for Anne and Mary, our protagonists themselves, and each of their lives joining piracy and then finding each other – until the very end, when Mary died in prison, while waiting to give birth, and the possible years Anne could have lived after that.
While these brief scenes dramatizing the events in their lives are interesting and well-thought, I think what Simon did best (besides the extensive research, of course) was making clear how Anne and Mary were (or might’ve been) affected by the views on gender during their time, as well as the impact they (and the news that circulated about them) had on women in the english-speaking world. This desire for freedom in the middle of decades when women had few rights was strong, and despite pirates and their inevitable deaths being treated as warnings – don’t step out of line, don’t join life at sea –, inevitably they created curiosity and interest, especially with the growing access to printed papers.
Simon crafted a book that flows so well through these women’s lives that when you get to the conclusion, you want to go back and see more of these pirates, know who else they might have interacted with, what else they could have done and what impacts they (and other gender defying ladies) could have caused. Of course the author doesn’t skip mentioning the big fiction around Anne Bonny, Black Sails, despite the lack of Mary Read in the show, which demonstrates how the myth around these two is still alive and strong.
As a bonus, there’s transcripts of the trial papers and documents like that by the end of the book, along with illustrations and scans.
(My biggest disappointment wasn’t quite related to the book, but to history itself. What do you mean they likely weren’t lovers? Please, give me lesbian pirates, @world etc.)
Every time I get the chance to learn more about a pirate I jump in joy despite knowing that most of the book will be full of speculations and narration coming from vague historical records. Even so, with all the hardship of doing historical research, especially over figures with so little documentation and a certain amount of fiction that contributes to the confusion around them, Simon did a wonderful job recreating the lives and experiences of Anne Bonny and Mary Read.
The author starts with Anne and Mary’s mothers, or what was possible to find about them and what could be possible considering their context in history, creating scenarios for how things could’ve been. Simon does the same for Anne and Mary, our protagonists themselves, and each of their lives joining piracy and then finding each other – until the very end, when Mary died in prison, while waiting to give birth, and the possible years Anne could have lived after that.
While these brief scenes dramatizing the events in their lives are interesting and well-thought, I think what Simon did best (besides the extensive research, of course) was making clear how Anne and Mary were (or might’ve been) affected by the views on gender during their time, as well as the impact they (and the news that circulated about them) had on women in the english-speaking world. This desire for freedom in the middle of decades when women had few rights was strong, and despite pirates and their inevitable deaths being treated as warnings – don’t step out of line, don’t join life at sea –, inevitably they created curiosity and interest, especially with the growing access to printed papers.
Simon crafted a book that flows so well through these women’s lives that when you get to the conclusion, you want to go back and see more of these pirates, know who else they might have interacted with, what else they could have done and what impacts they (and other gender defying ladies) could have caused. Of course the author doesn’t skip mentioning the big fiction around Anne Bonny, Black Sails, despite the lack of Mary Read in the show, which demonstrates how the myth around these two is still alive and strong.
As a bonus, there’s transcripts of the trial papers and documents like that by the end of the book, along with illustrations and scans.
(My biggest disappointment wasn’t quite related to the book, but to history itself. What do you mean they likely weren’t lovers? Please, give me lesbian pirates, @world etc.)