Review: The Pirate Queen by Ariel Lawhon

From Anastasia Romanov (I Was Anastasia) to Martha Ballard (The Frozen River) and now with Grace O’Malley, she truly has a talent for painting a picture where you feel immersed in their vivid worlds. None of the women of history she covers are an easy assignment. But she really finds a way to bring their stories to life.

The Frozen River was a huge success. And then picking Grace O’Malley for her next novel, who has very little historical record to draw from, was certainly not the easy road. She also opted to tell the story in a nonlinear format, which I did have mixed feelings about.

However, overall,, The Pirate Queen is very much an epic and engaging tale.

What’s the Story About

Grace O’Malley is the legendary Irish folk heroine who is known as ‘the Pirate Queen.’ During the 16th century, she rose to power, leading clans and defending her lands, ships, and people against the power-hungry English.

Most of the details about Grace’s life come from an unexpected place: written by her enemies, the English. There’s no historical record of her life found in official Irish history.

The Pirate Queen is not told in chronological order but instead focuses on Grace’s three alternating timelines: Maiden, Mother, and Matriarch. So the reader goes back and forth in narrative and timelines in reading how Grace became the famed Pirate Queen, and her journey from childhood to old age.

The Narrative

My advanced reader’s copy (ARC) was a digital one, and while I typically don’t mind reading stories on the Kindle, I did find it a little difficult with this nonlinear timeline. I would have liked being able to go back and forth, especially as there are a lot of characters and so much to keep track of.

I will say if you have not purchased or reserved the book, I would encourage you to read it in printed form, as it would be easier to go back and forth when needed. I’m not yet an audiobook listener, so I can’t speak to how the reading experience is in that format with this nonlinear timeline.

I’m not one that always needs to read stories in chronological order. And the nonlinear format can lend itself to interesting storytelling.

But with The Pirate Queen, I did feel sometimes I would be really engaged with a certain timeline, and then we would have to either jump forward or back, and it would take me a minute or so to get familiar again with that particular storyline. I did eventually get used to it, but it took time getting there.

I know some decided to read it in chronological order, and I’m curious how their reading experience is different from those who didn’t read it that way.

Grace’s Journey

Whew, being a pirate in the 16th century was not for the weak. It’s no surprise there’s plenty of violence. Ariel does not shy away from the brutality of that era.

Grace’s unexpected symmetry with Queen Elizabeth was also quite interesting. On the surface, these two are as different as can be, until unexpected similarities arose. When they eventually meet, I feel that scene was one of the strongest of the entire story. It definitely gave the feeling that it all led to this, and it was worth it.

Grace was forced to marry a brutal and terrible man, and with that she lost some of her compassion. She is forced to push aside her happiness and even loyalties quite often to be able to maintain control of power. She was stripped of the opportunity to make a choice for herself when she was a teenager and vowed never to have that taken from her again.

But she does fall in love and has children she cares about. But everything in the end is about her land and really having power too.

Verdict

While the nonlinear storyline was a bit of a curveball for me at first, I did settle in and enjoy the story. To be honest, the 16th century is not a time period I typically would want to read about, but I was quite intrigued by where Grace’s story would go.

I really admire how historical fiction highlights women of history like this. As Ariel mentions in her author’s note and interviews, there are so many holes and gaps that historians don’t know about Grace. The author made interesting story choices ,and it really helped create a full picture of Grace.

After all, the best historical fiction is taking a person of history and putting together an engaging and exciting fictional tale. A great blend of fact and fiction.

This is a great one for book clubs with plenty to discuss, and you could do a lot of fun themes with it as well.