Mary Read was never allowed to be herself. Born a girl in 1685, she is forced by her mother to assume the identity of her dead brother, Mark, so they will not be financially cut off by Ma’s mother-in-law.
Even after the old woman dies, Mary remains a boy. She works as a footman, then joins the navy, the infantry and the cavalry, fighting against Spain and France. She is only revealed as a woman when she falls in love with and marries a man from her troop.
After he dies, Mary is called back to the sea, where she feels free. As Mary, not Mark, she joins a merchant ship and travels the world. But life is more dangerous as a woman. Their ship sails often to Nassau, where Mary meets Anne Bonney, a woman who seems to feel no fear. Burdened by society’s expectations, when the chance comes, Mary and Anne become pirates.
Building on the few facts known about real-life Mary Read, Francesca de Tores has crafted a compelling novel about a remarkable woman who defied the mores of her time. Mary is a survivor, unbound by gender, open to adventure, and determined to live on her terms. The historical detail in Saltblood around ships and pirates is also fascinating.
Reviewed by Melinda Woledge
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
As Francesca de Tores, she writes historical fiction.
As Francesca Haig, she is the author of four novels. The most recent, The Cookbook of Common Prayer, was published in 2021. Her post-apocalyptic Fire Sermon trilogy is published in more than 20 languages. The first novel, The Fire Sermon, was published in 2015, followed by The Map of Bones in 2016, and concluding with The Forever Ship in 2017.
Francesca grew up in lutruwita/Tasmania, gained her PhD from the University of Melbourne, and was a senior lecturer and a Visiting Writing Fellow at the University of Chester. Her poetry has been published in literary journals and anthologies in both Australia and England, and a collection of poetry, Bodies of Water, was published in 2006.
In 2010 she was awarded a Hawthornden Fellowship. She lives in naarm/Melbourne, on the unceded land of the Wurundjeri and Boon Wurrung peoples of the Kulin nation.
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