Pirates!

By: Celia Rees

Narrated by: Jennifer Wiltsie

It is the dawn of the eighteenth century, when girls stay home and sew while men sail the high seas finding adventure, danger, and gold. But two unusually adventurous girls--a rich merchant's daughter, Nancy Kington, and her former plantation slave, Minerva Sharpe--take to the high seas from Jamaica on a shop the crew renames Deliverance. Not just any trading ship, the Deliverance flies black flags from its mast, proclaiming to all that the newly named, hijacked ship is a pirate vessel, striking fear into the hearts of those she approaches. Or so they hope.

For Nancy, the Deliverance is her escape from an arranged betrothal to a controlling and devilish man. For Minerva, it is an escape from slavery, as well as from the fearsome overseer on Nancy's family plantation. But in the end, the money, the adventure, the companionship, and the chance to see the world not as women, but as bold and daring pirates, is an opportunity neither can deny.

A powerful, thrilling, and ultimately inspiring journey of two women who break the bonds of gender, race, and position to find their own way to glory.©2003 Celia Rees; (P)2004 Random House, Inc. Listening Library is an imprint of the Random House Audio Publishing Group

a Romance, not a romance

Pirates! is more a feminist nautical yarn than an historical romance. I think "bodice ripper" is inaccurate - there's no sex at all, and the female characters are brave, smart, active and politically correct to the modern standard. These personal qualities were doubtless in very short supply in actual seventeenth-century ladies!

There are plenty of fairy-tale elements, so your belief will need some suspension. However, the story is engrossing, the writing fine, the historical bits informative, and the narration top-notch.

Bodice Ripper Plus

I enjoyed the historical accuracy, technical/historical descriptions, moral quandries and lryical writing. However, this firm foundation was lavishishly decorated with a flimsy tattered (but ultimately unrevealing) bodice ripper with (thankfully) less graphic sex than is usual to the genre. I suspect a younger reader (say 13/14) would enjoy it more. The storm scenes, the slightly para-normal scenes, the evil dark revengeful rejected suiter scenes, the tearful reunion scenes, the frolicing in Eden scenes, the almost being violated scenes, the discovery (which an alert reader could have anticipated by about 20 chapters) that the "kinship between them was more than it seemed" scene.....it all got a little cloying to say the least! Beth

Love it!

This is a really wonderful story with vivid details, strong character development and an engaging plot. I especially like the strength of the female characters. As far as the audiobook version is concerned, the narrator has a lovely voice and her pacing is perfect. I highly recommend this to anyone with an interest in a non-Hollywood interpretation of pirates. This is nice for adults and teens. I give it 5 stars without hesitation!

Fun!

This is a fun listen ... exciting, dangerous situations, adventure, bravery ... all things that make a child's book great. And it has a happy ending!

Great family listening!

Ordered this for my children's summer reading. I enjoyed it as much as they did!