A review by voyager78
A True Account: Hannah Masury's Sojourn Amongst the Pyrates, Written by Herself by Katherine Howe

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.0

Katherine Howe has written a multilayered, cinematic, swashbuckling tale. Hannah Masury, a young woman living in Boston in 1726, is the narrator of this exciting book. Due to various circumstances, she ends up pretending to be a boy on a ship taken over by pirates, and this book is seemingly her autobiography. At a certain point in the book, things take an unexpected turn and the book becomes something else. I did not know this going in, but since it’s in the publisher’s blurb, I guess it’s not a spoiler, but I’m glad I knew nothing, so read no further if you don’t want to know. 

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Just when Hannah’s tale is getting extremely suspenseful, the story shifts into the 1930s, and you realize that Hannah’s book is being discussed by professor Marian Beresford and a student of hers. Her student is convinced that the book is real and that there is buried treasure to be found. Marian is skeptical but intrigued. The duel stories continue and converge into a very satisfying ending, with the author’s notes bringing even more delightful details into play. 

Howe has done her research. The descriptions of Colonial Boston, the action on the ship, Marian’s life in the 1930s… it all comes to life in her exquisite prose. Hannah is a non-conventional woman and Marian is as well, both trying to navigate their way in a world run by men. My only criticism is that the sections about Marian were not quite as captivating as Hannah’s. And there is quite a lot of violence, to be expected in a book about pirates, so beware. This is a fantastic book for lovers of historical fiction, especially pirate stories! 

Thank you NetGalley and Henry Holt & Company, for letting me read this book in exchange for an honest review.