Fire on Dark Water
Wendy Perriman

Berkley Books
June 2011 / 9780425241042
Historical Adventure
Amazon

Reviewed by Barbara Buhrer

Lola Blaine, a gypsy, was kidnapped and brutally molested in London at the age of 10. Later she was sentenced to 7 years as an indentured servant and then was sent to America. When the ship landed she was was transported to a rice plantation in the South where she was treated brutally. She managed to escape North, to Providence, a pirate's haven. There she worked as a prostitute until she captured the attention of Blackbeard, the pirate. She became Blackbeard's 13th wife. She rubs elbows with Annie Bonny, the only female pirate. She struggles in the pirate world to escape the fate of Blackbeard's previous wives, and to escape the life she doesn't want to lead.

This is an exciting tale about the world of pirates in the 1700's. It is a first person narrative, telling the story of a woman's survival in the seamy world of London and the New World in the 1700's. It is well written with great detail of historical fact. There is lots of violence, rape, child abuse, torture, and beatings, but none of it is graphically described.