 Pirates and Privateers
The History of Maritime
Piracy
Cindy Vallar, Editor
& Reviewer
P.O. Box 425,
Keller, TX 76244-0425
Books for
Pirate Apprentices ~ Historical Fiction
Voyage of Plunder
by Michele Torrey
Knopf, 2005, ISBN 0-375-82383-2, US $15.95
After his
mother’s death, Daniel Markham meets shadowy men who
visit his father’s house after dark and give him
special gifts. The world Daniel knows changes in his
thirteenth year when his father weds Faith Grey, who
is only three years older than Daniel. He is
particularly dismayed to hear they must leave his
beloved Boston for Jamaica. A suspicious vessel is
sighted on the voyage, and Daniel’s father makes him
promise to watch out for Faith and the child she
carries. Once the pirates swarm over the ship, a
horrified Daniel watches while the pirate captain,
Josiah Black, kills his father. Daniel’s promise
haunts him, for he never means to keep it. Now
he has no choice, and when Faith falls ill, he
barters for her safe deliverance ashore. In return,
he makes himself hostage to the pirates, and enters
a life he has no wish to experience.
Voyage of Plunder is a fast-paced novel
written for young adults, but one that any pirate
will want to read. The story captivates the reader
from the start, and while some may surmise the
“truths” before Daniel does, no one will forget the
final outcome. One strength of this story is the
seamless way in which Torrey inserts facts into the
fiction to accurately portray pirates and the life
they live.
Although Daniel seems naïve at times, he deals with
difficult issues and hard truths, and usually grows
in wisdom and understanding. He never wants to be a
pirate, yet he becomes one. There is no romanticism
of piracy here, and that makes the story special.
The climax is astounding and heartbreaking, and the
author deftly shows how different interpretations
can have a lasting and sometimes tragic effect on us
all.
Review
Copyright ©2005 Cindy Vallar
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