Katherine Howe has written the perfect summer book, A True Account. Nothing could be more fun or captivating than a historical fiction book about pirates. Can’t you hear the theme song for The Pirates of The Caribbean ride and movies in your head right now?! You’ll love this book!
A True Account was published in November of 2023. Being a seasonal reader, I wanted to hold off and read it this summer. It’s quintessential beach reading and, Aye Maties, I highly recommend it, especially before the cool wind starts blowing off the mainland…
After a pirate was hanged in Boston for thievery in 1726, rumors ran amuck that he hid a treasure on a Caribbean island. After witnessing the hanging, 17-year-old Hannah Masury gets herself in the middle of a life-and-death situation. She takes a chance that alters her life forever by changing her identity to a cabin boy on the ship of a legendary pirate, Edward “Ned” Low who is after the loot.
Meanwhile, in 1930, Professor Marian Beresford and her undergraduate student Kay Lonergan began compiling information from Hannah Masury’s discovered manuscript about her life as a “cabin boy” and Ned Low’s treasure hunt. It’s a mystery Marian is committed to solving.
This book uses a dual narrative and showcases the determination of 2 women, Marian and Hannah, living over 200 years apart. It’s an action-packed, fast-paced, character-layered, women-breaking-barriers kind of book. I have never read a book that takes place on the high seas so it was super entertaining! I see this becoming a big blockbuster movie and perfect for the big screen!
Heed my advice…if you want to read something that is probably unlike any other historical fiction book you may have read to date, grab A True Account. Oh, and of course there’s a parrot, a motley crew, and a mutiny between this 268-page beauty of a book. Enjoy!
When you finish the book, don’t forget to read the Author’s Note. Katherine Howe’s heart and passion are certainly prevalent in the pages she wrote.
