Black Hearts White Bones

By: William Charles Furney

Narrated by: Becky Lingwood

Peg Brennan hasn't held a sword since she was captured at sea and imprisoned 10 years ago. But as her fingers slide around the hilt of the rapier beside her, she knows that the life she has made for her bastard son in Bath is about to change for the worse - and still she cannot stop herself. What she doesn't know is that a darker threat will soon arrive to drag her back into the blackness that can only exist in a pirate's heart.

Sailing toward the port town is Mary Read - the woman Peg left behind to die in Jamaica nine years earlier. Her life has been as hard as Peg's has been mundane, providing bitter sauce for the cold revenge she intends to serve her former love. Mary Read plans to kill Peg - the woman who is really Anne Bonny - as payment for her suffering. But fate seldom adheres to the plans of men, and even less so for women who have tasted forbidden fruit.

More than a rousing adventure story in the vein of Treasure Island and Captain Blood, Black Hearts White Bones delivers a broadside to convention by daring to portray these legendary pirates as real women refusing to surrender to the mores of their time. Eschewing gratuitous bodice-ripping for a serious look at these two anti-heroines, debut author William Charles Furney gives us a resounding answer to the question, "If it is true that only those women who behave badly make history, can two women loving badly rewrite it?"

Though Black Hearts White Bones is a what-if novel that abounds in history, intrigue, and mystery, the story is always about Bonny and Read. The tension between them is present throughout, and little is what it appears to be. In the quest to regain that which Mary Read stole from her, Anne discovers clues about the Lost Colony, attempts to save the fortress city Charles Town, and discovers her true self. As the woman who would resurrect a pirate nation, Mary Read soon realizes that some bonds are not meant to broken - a circumstance that begins to drive Anne mad.

©2017 William Charles Furney (P)2017 William Charles Furney

A deeply complex take on a simple love triangle.

And when I say love triangle, I mean that Anne, Mary, and the life of a pirate. How any woman could gain a modicum of respect in a sea of barbarous thrives, is incomprehensible. How TWO women could do it seems plainly mythical. And yet history leaves us with the mystery: Who really were Anne Bonny and Mary Read? Furney gives an exciting twist to the stories these women inspired, without taking overt liberties with their sexuality that would diminish the overall plot. Well written and executed, a great read for any fan of pirate adventures. There were very few recording/audio skips and cutting errors that made 3 or 4 parts harder to follow, but they were minimal and short enough that it didn’t ruin or devalue the enjoyment of listening to Ms. Lingwood provide perfect the vocal arrangement in the narration of this audiobook.

Standing on Your own 2 Feet!

Unbelievable how much, abuse, both mental and physical abuse Women endured to be treated with respect. Crappy Past, often leads to a Brighter Future. Off to my next Adventure.

Wonderful!

This was a great book. Full of adventure, laughter, drama, and lots of pirates! I love this story and look forward to any more books from the author.

The narrator was great as well. She has a great reading voices and all the accents and different characters were perfect.

There were a few audio hiccups. I thought it may have been my player, but it as it kept happening and the way it happen made it clear it was not. It didn't take away from the story or narration at all. Just a side note and maybe one day, someone can go in and fine tune it

I loved it! Great job to all!

Original Pirate Story

What a wonderful story, I am a huge fan of pirate stories and this was original and fun to read, I highly recommend it to anyone.

Loved this story

A NC native born and raised in the Piedmont, having went to college and living in the beautiful mountains, and now living in rural eastern NC I enjoyed the new stories gave me for familiar places. We regularly spend our summers a boat ride away at Cape Lookout and got married on the Cooper River. I’ll now revisit these places and think of the first settlers and pirates in a different way. Highly recommend if you’ve ever been or want to head east.

Fantastic swashbuckling

This is a great book using historical facts in locations. Enjoyed joyed a character build-up and action. Wonderful use of Oracle your locations. Into the audio and enjoyed the speaker's performance. Her ability to alternate accents was most enjoyable.

great

everything about the book I liked. the details to the romance. it was a very good listen.

Too much

I appreciate the artistic freedom of writing history as fiction. I just found this audiobook to be far-fetched, Drawn out, and boring. I'm happy it was free. that we'd the best part.