Devil's Ballast

by Meg Caddy

[Sarah Says]

Devil’s Ballast by Meg Caddy is a fictionalised historical YA tale based on the life of female pirate Anne Bonny, that came out on the 7th of may. The story opens with:
“I counted fifteen dead men working the deck of the Kingston.
Well, they weren’t dead yet, but the day was young and I had a full belt of shot.”
Of yeah, that got me excited for a rip roaring story of pirate-y murder and mayhem.

The book is set at the start of Bonny’s pirating career, when she first runs off to sea and subsequently meets Read (Mary Read, another notoriously famous female pirate from yesteryear). The friendship between Bonny and Read was the shining highlight of the book for me and I would love to read a sequel that follows the two creating pirate-y mayhem together.

Anne Bonny is somewhat considered a historical bisexual figure, so I was a little disappointment when her only sexual love interested was a man. I got over it when a friendship started to develop between Bonny and Read. I felt it was their confiding in each other and the mutual respect and friendship that grew, to be what really picked up the pace of the story and had me racing through the pages until the end.

There is no way to historically prove that Bonny was bisexual, where as her relationship with Calico Jack is documented – so you can’t blame Caddy for using him as her love interest – but personally I would like to have seen those bisexual rumours/suspicions explored, even if only a little.

Both in real life and in this book Anne Bonny and Mary Read partook in cross-dressing: Bonny to hide the fact she was a woman and Read to hide the body he’d been born with. With Read being transgender and the kinship between him and Bonny, ultimately I feel like I did get a queer fix with this book. So yay for that.

I think the authors note at the end of the book sums it up. “…it should be noted that almost every account of her life, including this one, is filled with sensationalism, mysteries, inconsistencies, rumour and outright lies. I think she’d like it that way.” I think both Bonny and Read would like it that way 🙂

Conclusion: If you are a lover of a pirate filled tales and strong leading female characters, then this is the book for you. If you were hoping to see a bisexual icon taring up the seas taking up a variation of lovers along the way, then this won’t hit the spot. But it’s still a damn good read that I enjoyed. I’m crossing my fingers for a sequel – so I think that in it’s self says enough.