PIRATE ROYAL

by John & Patricia Beatty ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 1969

Rags to riches with a slight twist. Anglican Anthony Grey, apprenticed to a silversmith by a Puritan uncle, is wrongly accused of theft and sent to the Massachusetts Bay colony as a bondservant; he buckles down in Boston, then is snatched and taken to buccaneer Henry Morgan to serve as clerk. Based at Port Royal, he earns his fortune in The Brotherhood by accounting for and doling out the booty under Morgan's much-pleased eye. The ""Admiral"" and his papist-hating English are somewhat less severe to the Spaniards than is customarily represented, although Anthony deplores the wrongs inflicted on women and children. He accompanies Morgan to London and an audience with King Charles II (after the capture of Panama), clears up his record, would face a future with wealth, power and prestige; but an old enemy shows up and Anthony wins the duel but loses the favor of the king. So it's back to the books with Morgan, now Lieutenant-Governor, and a safe future despite the slightly tarnished image. Only that mishap saves him from the innocent-victim category but even there his motivation is pure. No swash-buckler--just a put-upon kid among pirates, humorless and stiff.

Pub Date: April 1, 1969

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Macmillan

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1969

Categories: FICTION