Gold celebrates the bravura of "a woman in a man's world" with his swashbuckling second novel (after Warrior Queen
) about a 16th-century Irish buccaneer as gorgeous as she was dauntless. Set against the backdrop of Ireland and England from 1544 to 1588, the novel tracks Grace O'Malley's career from girlhood to middle age, with the occasional chapter cutting away to Queen Elizabeth I, an equally red-haired, resourceful and outspoken heroine. The daughter of a chieftain and merchantman–cum–pirate, Grace takes up her father's trade and commands a merchant fleet by age 30. An astute trader, ruthless pirate and Irish patriot, she plunders the ships of the Dutch, French, Spanish and Turks—and with particular relish stymies the oppressive English. She also achieves two marriages, four children and many amorous liaisons. Grace's story meets Queen Elizabeth's toward the novel's end, when the English kidnap Grace's youngest son. The Irishwoman courageously calls on the queen to ask for her son's return, and the two kindred spirits spend a remarkable night together of shared confidences and political wheeling and dealing. This fantastical yarn will satisfy readers looking to root for a strong woman with a sharp sword and even more pointed tongue. (Jan.)
