If the Tide Turns
During a visit to Cape Cod, you would doubtless hear murmurs of Samuel (Black Sam) Bellamy and his winsome beauty, Maria (Mehitable) Brown. Myths and legends abound, but it’s worth considering that tales of the Whydah (Bellamy’s flagship) were part of the legends until she and her sunken treasure were discovered in 1984. Rueckert has woven detailed research into a romance between Sam and Maria in a bid to explain Sam’s known actions. Having been pressed into service at age eight, Sam is now laid off along with thousands of Navy sailors in 1715, and needs another commission. Maria, a well-known Eastham beauty, catches his eye, they fall in love, and he asks for her hand in marriage. Spurned by her parents, he signs onto Paulsgrave Williams’ treasure-hunting expedition, later goes on the account, befriends Benjamin Hornigold, and is made commodore of the Whydah in 1716 by a wide-margin vote. Maria is forced into marriage with an older man and is trapped in a series of tragic events.
This is an exciting, action-filled clean romance with the added attraction of high seas adventure. I have a few niggles: telling rather than showing kept me emotionally distanced from the settings. One example: Sam issues an order in a howling gale ferocious enough to snap the main mast, but the difficulty of speaking isn’t felt in the narrative. Historical detail is light in places where I would have liked to know and feel more. There is occasional melodrama, and much as I wanted to be on the Whydah with Sam, I am not sure I could have weathered his introspective whining. Readers who enjoy romantic suspense and tales of pirates, albeit polite ones who carry weapons they rarely use, will relish this. Overall, a fast-paced and satisfying read.
