Pirates!

I grabbed Pirates! from a clearance shelf at the local book store because I liked the cover and it was cheap. While I did like the story it is hard to say why, the story was nothing like I though it would be. Despite being a good length book I am hard pressed to really describe the story to someone else, it felt like it should have been full of action but it never seemed that way and it was not a love story either.

Nancy's life spiraled out of her control when her father died and she was left in the care of her elder brothers. Determined to keep their business they decide to marry Nancy off to a rich merchant in hopes of saving their late father's business. Having none of that Nancy runs away in the middle of the night with two slaves she has made friends with. Fearing her prospective husband hunting her down Nancy does the only thing she can think of she joins a pirate crew to hide.

I expected a lot of adventure, gruffness from Nancy, and pirate escapades, I got none of that. It felt a lot like I was reading a diary of a young woman and less like the adventure it was presented as. Despite the slow writing I also found I could not stop reading. The writing pulled me in and it was hard to put the book down at times. I would consider reading more work by Celia Rees because I like the writing style immensely.