In this stunningly creative debut âfilled with well-drawn charactersâĻand smoldering passion,â (Booklist) Nicole Castroman reimagines the origins of historyâs most infamous pirateâBlackbeard.
When Edward âTeachâ Drummond, son of one of Bristolâs richest merchants, returns home from a year at sea, he finds his life in shambles. Betrothed to a girl he doesnât love and sick of the high society he was born into, all Teach wants is to return to the vast ocean he calls home. Thereâs just one problem: he must convince his father to let him leave and never come back.
Following the death of her parents, Anne Barrett is left penniless. Though sheâs barely worked a day in her life, Anne takes a job as a maid in the home of Master Drummond. Lonely days stretch into weeks and Anne longs to escape the confines of her now mundane life. How will she ever achieve her dream of sailing to Curaçaoâher motherâs birthplaceâwhen sheâs trapped in England?
From the moment Teach and Anne meet, they set the world ablaze. Drawn together by a shared desire for freedom, but kept apart by Teachâs father, their love is as passionate as it is forbidden. Faced with an impossible choice, Teach and Anne must decide whether to chase their dreams and leave England foreverâor follow their hearts and stay together.