Customer Reviews

Kingston by Starlight: A Novel

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In the eighteenth century in County Cork Ireland, Anne Bonny enjoys her wealthy childhood until her father gambles away their fortune; he flees to America leaving his two women behind buried under a cloud of scandal and a mountain of debt. Annie and "Ma" book passage on a slave ship heading to the Americas. However, Ma dies on the journey and Annie lands in South Carolina but she has no idea where her dad is and has no inclination to find him.

Instead the ocean voyage fueled a desire in Annie to sail the seven seas. As a female she knows that would be impossible; however being as tall and broad shouldered as some men, Annie dresses like a man. Thus she begins sailing the Caribbean and drinking at taverns in the Bahamas where she meets pirate Calico Jack Rackam who is shocked to meet a buccaneer who can play chess better than he can. She joins his crew as William "a man of the sea" and his bed as Anne. They make a fortune attacking Spanish vessels and are joined by another pirate Read with a similar secret as that of William. All is well until the trio is caught and forced to stand trial.

KINGSTON BY STARLIGHT is an interesting biographical fiction that provides a different spin to the legendary female pirates of the Caribbean. Interestingly the audience obtains the perspective of an aging Bonny looking back at what she considered her prime time. Christopher John Farley provides a powerful, colorful, but tainted (after all it is the cross dressing pirate telling her story) tale of life in the eighteenth century Caribbean.

Harriet Klausner

While a pirate tale is not the genre I would usually go for, I picked this book up in haste in order to have something to read at a recent beach vacation, and it could not have been more appropriate for this purpose! Farley's historically-based, maritime novel is fun and adventurous reading with some compelling themes of the often ambiguous nature of gender roles and intimate companionship. For anyone who enjoyed the swashbuckling pirate antics of Depp and his comrades in "Pirates of the Carribean," this seafaring adventure will be a delightful, page-turning read.

Anne Bonny, an actual person involved in a 1720 trial of Pirates in Jamaica, was a fascinating character born in Ireland. She is desperate when her father abandons her and her mother, and her mother dies on board a ship sailing for America.

She passes herself off as a young man named Bonn,and finds work on the William, sailing under the command of Calico Jack Rackam, a chaismatic pirate with a price on his head. Bonn is entranced by the sea, the ship's violent crew, and a mysterious swordfighter named Read, who has a secret of his/her own.

When Bonn, Read, and Calico Jack are captured, dark secrets are revealed and the book has a surprise ending.

It seems that no matter who you were before you joined the pirate crew, it no longer was important. You were one of the gang, the team, one for all, and all for one, even when the governor of Jamaica had a price on your head.

This was a hard book to put down, even for a 70 year old grandmother!

Written essentially as a memoir/monologue with occasional dialog, Kingston by Starlight is the tale of a female pirate, Ann Bonny, who puts to sea disguised as a man and spends years riding the waves for plunder with the likes of Calico Jack Rackam. Bonny tells her story from the perspective of old age, having survived capture and hardship after years of pirate adventures. Her early life in Ireland is one of relative comfort, protected by her wealthy father's reputation until he gambles away his fortune and sets sail for North Carolina in the New World. Bonny and her mother struggle for a now-meager existence until they also set sail for America, in hopes of locating the errant father. The voyage is revelatory, as mother and daughter are sailing aboard a slaver, a horrifying ordeal for the slaves and a young woman who sympathizes with their plight. This disturbing voyage gives the young Ann an idea of the kind of life that awaits the disenfranchised.

Reaching their destination in North Carolina, Ann learns that her father has already left for Jamaica; then her mother falls ill, leaving the girl alone. There are no opportunities for employment in the early 18th century for decent women, save marriage or working in a house of ill repute. Ann refuses to consider either. Long given to an appreciation of male pursuits, she cuts her hair, travels to Barbados and begins the ribald life of a pirate aboard the William, captained by Calico Jack. Through many adventures, Bonn, as she is now known, keeps her true identity secret and revels with her mates, even dueling with another, Read. The two battle nimbly to a draw, both conscious of an instant attraction to one another.

Eventually, even pirates get tired and Bonn retires for a while with Calico Jack, living in relative plenty until approached by Read and another former shipmate, with tales of gold and treasure too great to ignore. One more voyage will suffice to ensure all their fortunes, a final escapade. Since this novel is narrated by Bonn as an old woman reflecting on her years on the sea, her loves, losses and regrets, clearly she has survived to tell the tale. All the way to the end, there are twists and turns, heartbreaks and unexpected revelations. More character involvement and dialog might have made Kingston by Starlight more captivating, as Bonn's voice becomes somewhat predictable. However, the author has done a fine job of historical research, setting the action on turbulent seas in exotic locales, replaying the lusty days of pirate lore and seafaring bravado. Luan Gaines/2005.

From the first page of this book, you know that you're reading something special, and very different from other novels out there.

Kingston By Starlight tells the story of a young Irish woman, Anne Bonney, who, after several twists of fate, decides to seek her fortunes at sea. She dresses as a man and winds up on the pirate ship The Will, which is captained by the charismatic Calico Jack Rackham. Anne--now known simply as Bonn--falls in love with the freedom of the seafaring life. As dirty and dangerous as it is, it's a big improvement over the life as a woman in the 18th century. Drunk on her own freedom, Bonn forms close alliances with both Calico Jack and swordfighting sailor named Read.

I won't spoil the plot by revealing too much, but the twists and turns of the plot are always surprising, particularly at the end, when there are several climactic scenes that really rocked my world. Christopher Farley is not only an excellent, lyrical, writer, he keeps enough things up his sleeve that you are shocked and delighted by every turn in this very suspenseful book.

This is also a simply wonderful portrait of the West Indies, beautifully imagined, with many startling notions about race and how appearances are deceiving.

Highly recommended.

Kingston by Starlight is Christopher John Farley's reimagining of the legend of Anne Bonny, notorious female pirate of the Caribbean. The book offers a variety of perspectives on life for a woman in the early 1700s, as well as a fascinating take on the circumstances that could have propelled Anne Bonny to hide her gender and join the crew of Calico Jack Rackam. Kingston by Starlight is no "Pirates of the Caribbean" but we may imagine Johnny Depp in Calico Jack's role. Indeed, the novel shows an excellent understanding of the politics and world economy of the time, and the cast of characters of the pirate ship in particular is a study in the benefits of globalization, writ small in the economy of a pirate ship. More parallels may be found in Edward Said's excellent essay, "Jane Austen and Empire," even though Said was writing about a later period in history, and in the pirate romance, "The Windflower," by Laura London.

Love, greed, betrayal, family, gender roles, racial identity--an amazing number of themes intertwine in this terrific story of one young woman's adventure. Read it!

This book was a rollicking good time -- great summer read with fantastic, strong female lead. If you liked Ahab's Wife, you'll love this book!

As a lover of historical fiction, this one fills the bill although in a totally different way than most fictional looks at history. I had never heard of the pirate Anne Bonny or Mary Read, but they did become credible characters in this page-turner. At times I felt like I was reading a history book, at other times it became almost a farce, and at some points a touching almost erotic love story. It truly is a yarn filled with an interesting look at piracy in the Caribbean and at some very unusual lives with some unexpected twists.

Kingston By Starlight was a teriffic book about Anne Bonny and her life as a pirate. It deffinatly got me hooked on pirate books about Mary Read and Calico Jack, but this book in particular didnt have enough fiction for me. It must be hard to write a book on historical facts and still make it interesting, but just look around at the other pirate books about Anne and you will get an idea on how dissapointing this book was after I had read the others like it.