Live the life of a pirate during the golden age of piracy!
It’s 1715 and Spain rules the Caribbean. Young Abigail Margaret Mary Pennyworth isn’t happy leaving her friends in England for the New World, but she has no say in where her missionary family goes as the Pennyworths set off for America.
Not long before the end of their three-month voyage, their merchant ship is captured by Spanish pirates, and Abby is separated from her family and all she has known. But before she can adjust, the Spanish vessel is captured in turn—by the notorious English pirate Benjamin Hornigold, the leader of the Pirate Republic in Nassau.
Rather than serving Abby to the sharks, Hornigold will have her serve as a member of his crew. And so starts her new life as the Captain’s cabin boy.
Abby’s adventures begin as they seize Spanish vessels in the Caribbean and sail in consort with many of the famous pirates of the day: Blackbeard (Edward Thache), Black Sam Bellamy and his partner, Paulsgrave Williams, Major Stede Bonnet, and Olivier LeVasseur. In Nassau, she meets Woodes Rogers, the new governor of the Bahamas, and Hornigold’s Jacobite-sympathizing nemeses, Henry Jennings and Charles Vane.
Join Abby as she lives the life of a pirate after the Queen Anne’s War. And yes Abby, they do hang pirates—even if they’re girls.
4.3 star average across 50+ reviews!
“Frey's writing is easy to read and approachable for upper middle-grade students through adults. The young protagonist will help with the appeal to a younger audience, but the historical details will likely draw in the more mature reader. The history is prominent . . . while the swashbuckling [some] may expect from a tale about pirates is not really present. However, those readers who are looking for detailed historical fiction rather than simply an adventure story with historical frosting are going to find exactly what they want in Frey's well-presented book.”
Coming Soon:
Lewis Galdy and the Rise, Fall, and Rise
of the Wickedest City in the New World
My next book traces the history of Port Royal from the capture of Jamaica in 1655 through its rise and fall. The story covers key events, including the devastating earthquake of 1692, the fire of 1703, and the hurricane of 1722, all told through the eyes of the only survivor, a real person named Lewis Galdy (see my blog post The Saga of Lewis Galdy).
When the English captured Jamaica, they needed to establish Port Royal to secure the harbor and to rebuild the capital, Spanish Town, that had been left in shambles after the Castilians evacuated the island. Both Port Royal and Spanish Town faced enormous challenges, starting with a lack of supplies and the spread of disease due to mosquitoes and poor sanitation.
Spanish Town, being slightly inland, faced attacks by the formerly enslaved people who had been freed by the Castilians before their departure. They fled into the mountains, where they joined others in establishing what would become Maroon communities.
Port Royal’s primary issue was security. In its early years, it relied on buccaneers and later privateers to protect it. The deep harbor attracted merchants, and Port Royal quickly became a booming center of commerce, filled with merchants, buccaneers, pirates, smugglers and the navy. The harbor’s activity led to the expansion of the necessary infrastructure, including wharves, docks, shops, warehouses, shipyards, and a thriving entertainment industry of brothels and taverns catering to sailors. The establishment of Port Royal’s naval station positioned Jamaica as the center of naval operations in the Caribbean.
With the end of the Anglo-Spanish War and the Treaty of Windsor (1670), in which Castile formally ceded Jamaica to England, sugar plantations began to dominate the island’s economy. This led to an increasing demand for enslaved laborers from Africa, further enriching Port Royal through both the sugar trade and the growing slave markets.
After the earthquake of 1692, Port Royal struggled to rebuild. Its dominance was further threatened by the growth of Kingston, a developing trading center on the mainland across the harbor. As Jamaica’s plantation economy expanded, smaller plantations were gradually replaced by larger ones, requiring more enslaved laborers. The influx of wealth strengthened Port Royal, but Kingston was emerging as the new commercial center.
The novel follows Lewis Galdy, who is forced to leave France due to King Louis XIV’s persecution of Huguenots. Lewis and his brother, Laurent, arrive in Port Royal in around 1688, where they meet three old soldiers who had served in Oliver Cromwell’s New Model Army during the English conquest of Jamaica. They share with Lewis and Laurent the history of Port Royal and Spanish Town, offering a firsthand perspective on the colony’s turbulent past. Lewis Galdy survives the earthquake, as well as the fire and the hurricane. He becomes involved in both the slave trade and the ongoing privateering raids against Castilian interest at sea and at land. His journey through these formative events provides a vivid account of Port Royal's rise and fall.
Expected Publication Date: before Christmas 2026.