Put a pirate in the title and you’ve got my attention. Now mix in an 18th century gender-bending orphan who slips aboard a ship and hales for the high seas and I’m all in. Hannah Masury must hide her identity among Ned Low’s ruthless, stinking, greedy crew as they hunt for treasure and terrorize God-fearing citizens along the way. Pirates will pirate. What are you gonna do? Two hundred years later, professor Marian Beresford is reassembling Hannah’s story and the more she learns about Hannah’s unconventional life, the more she senses a commonality between the two women who lived centuries apart. Howe, who teaches American studies at Cornell University, has a big following among historical fiction lovers and this new book is making some “most anticipated” lists.
— Kerri Miller | MPR News |