Pirates!

Pirates! by Celia Rees is brilliant, fabulous, unputdownable… Following the fortunes and misfortunes of middle-class Nancy from Bristol and ex-slave Minerva from the Caribbean as they join a pirate ship and escape their past lives, Rees has recreated an 18th-century novel for young women of the 21st century. Daniel Defoe is mentioned in the very first pages and Rees’ debt to him is evident; she echoes the language and tone of the 18th century and her themes are those of great literature. Nancy’s adventure sees her leaving her life as the daughter of a Bristol merchant to become a potential plantation owner and then a pirate (dressed a man). Rees therefore encompasses in her novel not only the ethics of the slave trade but racism and the position of women in society. These themes and issues give the book the feel of an adult novel but when combined with the all-pervading sense of adventure and a dash of romance the end result is deeply satisfying.