The Witch from the Sea
In 1823, half-Indian Victoria “Tory” MacKenzie flees an unpromising future in Boston by disguising herself as a male and stowing away on a ship. The ship is beset by pirates, and Tory betrays the location of valuable cargo onboard to save a crewman’s life. Tory throws in her lot with the pirates and, despite the fact that her sex is quickly discovered, earns a place for herself on the crew under the tutelage of Jack, a Shakespeare-quoting actor-turned pirate.
Jensen’s fast-paced debut novel stands out for its satisfyingly well-drawn characters and the strong historical sense of time and place she creates. Her pirates are not the drunken rowdies of legend, but men who turned to piracy for various reasons (Jack’s reason is absolutely priceless), and they earn their living largely through swiftness and cunning rather than brute force. Although this is a fun read with lots of adventure, there is a more serious side to the book as well, as it vividly illustrates the horrors of slavery and the omnipresent discrimination and prejudice endured by non-whites in that time and place. I highly recommend this book to any lover of historical fiction.
