Wayward Voyage

When author Anna M. Holmes sent me historical fiction Wayward Voyage, I already knew that it would center on historical female pirate Anne Bonny.  I had read about her fictional equivalent, Fanny Hackabout-Jones , in Fanny by Erica Jong some time ago.  I still haven't read an actual history book about Anne Bonny.  Perhaps that's because she's so much fun to read about in fiction.  I wonder if the real Anne Bonny would be disappointing in comparison.

Maybe she wouldn't be disappointing at all.  I found a biography of Anne Bonny by historian Phillip Thomas Tucker on his website here . I put it on hold. We'll see whether I'll enjoy reading about the real Anne Bonny.

But let's move on to Anna M. Holmes' fictional version of Anne Bonny's story.

 

                                       

                                  

 Wayward Voyage opens on the island of Jamaica in 1720. 

 There was a reference to  methods of abortion which I thought I should bring up for those who think abortion is modern.  A male character protested that "No one has the right to interfere with God's will."  This goes to show that anti-abortionists aren't a modern phenomenon either.

Anne's friend (some say they were lovers) Mary Read, who kept up a convincing male disguise, was a "top man" in this book. This meant she could climb the ship's rigging up to the top and announce "Land ho" when they were nearing land.   I thought this was an impressive skill. 

Anne and Mary aren't idealized.  They had some troubling attitudes including racism which I imagine was fairly typical for the time.

Anne is portrayed as heterosexual.  She was married to pirate captain Jack Rackham, but wasn't very loyal to him.  Mary Read considered Anne untrustworthy.

I don't have any additional remarks in my notes that I thought should be included in a review.  So this will be fairly brief.  I liked this book enough to rate it four stars on Goodreads.