This young adult novel was published in 2019. It is mostly narrated by Anne Bonny with some chapters in third person from Jonathan Barnet's point of view. Mary Read is written as a trans man named Martin--as a child Martin told his mother he was a boy before the mother decided to try to get… Continue reading Devil’s Ballast by Meg Caddy
Tag: Saint Mary
The Sweet Trade by Elizabeth Garrett/The Only Life That Mattered by James L. Nelson
This book was first published in 2001 as The Sweet Trade credited to Elizabeth Garrett. It was republished in 2004 under the name James L. Nelson as The Only Life That Mattered: The Short and Merry Lives of Anne Bonny, Mary Read, and Calico Jack Rackam. Anne's parents are William Cormac and Peg Brennan. Anne… Continue reading The Sweet Trade by Elizabeth Garrett/The Only Life That Mattered by James L. Nelson
Women-at-Arms: Their Famous Exploits Throughout the Ages by Reginald Hargreaves
This hilarious book was published in 1930. Hargreaves writes that Anne Bonny and Mary Read because "The appeal to a woman of quick returns, whether emotional or financial, has rarely been known to fail. If she subsequently discovers that they carry with them the inevitable proviso of small profits, her natural talent for living from… Continue reading Women-at-Arms: Their Famous Exploits Throughout the Ages by Reginald Hargreaves
Femmes de la mer by Anne de Tourville
This book was published in 1958, based on the research of Jehan Mousnier. A chapter devoted to Ann Bonny and Mary Read is called "Engimes et sorcières des eaux, d'Angleterre". It begins as usual with Mary's life story, adopting Henry Musnik's story about Mary's mother meeting her husband through a personal ad. The husband leaves… Continue reading Femmes de la mer by Anne de Tourville
Les étonnantes aventures de Mary Read by Anne de Tourville
This article appeared in the September 1959 issue of Historia, condensing the story from de Tourville's book Femmes de la mer. It uses Henry Musnik's story about Mary's parents meeting through a personal ad. When Mary is born and her brother dies, her mother pretends "he" is in poor health to explain why he hasn't… Continue reading Les étonnantes aventures de Mary Read by Anne de Tourville
The Rogue’s Moon by Robert W. Chambers
This story was published as a novel but also in magazines, serialized or as individual stories. It's about a girl named Nancy Topsfield who works in a tavern in Topsail Inlet dressed as a boy and gets mixed up in various piratical storylines. It's quite charming, sort of "Perils of Pauline". Nancy never meets John… Continue reading The Rogue’s Moon by Robert W. Chambers
Women Pirates of the West Indies. by Richard Spillane
This article appeared in Louisville's Courier-Journal on November 14, 1909. Spillane writes that Mary Reed "was the greatest woman pirate the world ever has known", and compares her to Cleopatra, Catherine the Great, and Elizabeth I. In this story Mary's not-grandmother tries to adopt her more than once, and each time the mother manages to… Continue reading Women Pirates of the West Indies. by Richard Spillane
Mary Read, the Pirate.
This article appeared in All the Year Round on October 4, 1884. The uncredited writer immediately invokes Joan of Arc and insists that Mary was "far removed from ordinary malefactors". On the other hand, Anne Bonny was "unredeemed by a spark of the nobility and self-devotion which lift Mary Read out of the ranks of… Continue reading Mary Read, the Pirate.
Mary Read, Buccaneer by Philip Rush
This nightmare of misogynist anxiety was first published in 1945. Rush includes an author's note in which he says that although he used his imagination to fill in the details, "no liberties have been taken with the truth so far as it is known." Uh-huh, we'll see about that. He shouts out Charles Johnson, whom… Continue reading Mary Read, Buccaneer by Philip Rush
Les gentilshommes de fortune by Frédéric Boutet
This article appeared in La Revue mondiale in 1911. According to this article, Jean Rackam and his officers were hanged by their feet, whereas the turtlers were hanged by the neck. Ok... Mary's older brother dies at 10 months old--presumably to minimize the age difference to make the deception more believable. She reveals her gender… Continue reading Les gentilshommes de fortune by Frédéric Boutet
Depictions of John Rackam, Anne Bonny, and Mary Read 