Curse of the Blue Tattoo
In this second installment in the life of Mary “Bloody Jack” Faber, the wildly unconventional teenager embroils herself in another adventure, this time in early 19th-century Boston. Hustled off a British ship-of-the-line (where she’d spent her last escapade, dressed as a boy,) Jackie finds herself installed in a posh finishing school. She has promised her sweetheart, a decent and well-bred midshipman, that she’d do her best to become a lady. The impish young woman can’t help herself, however, as she escapes for a short walk in the city only to wind up—as she so often does—in a heap of trouble with the Puritans, the Mistress, or the law. This is a “hold-your-breath-what’s-she-going-to-do-next” kind of novel, yet the innocence and rough sweetness of the character prevent the story from veering into the absurd. In fact, this heroine is so charmingly impulsive, so good-hearted, so utterly irrepressible that this reviewer anticipates many future installments. Bright, energetic and lots of fun, Curse of the Blue Tattoo is a keeper. Age 12+.
