Tale of Queer Women Pirates: A Review of The Unbinding of Mary Reade

The end of the seventeenth century and the beginning of the eighteenth were the golden age of pirates—that is, the buccaneers of the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea whose exploits have captivated the imaginations of readers young and old. Among those pirates were a several notable women who sought freedom and riches on the high seas. In The Unbinding of Mary Reade (the “e” added to her name in the style of the era), debut YA novelist Miriam McNamara imagines the romantic and sexual relationship that developed between Mary Read and Anne Bonny in the years they sailed together.

Although both of them at times passed for men during their youth and their years as pirates, McNamara focuses on Mary with a dual timeline that explores her capture by a pirate ship and relationship with Anne, along with her childhood in Wapping, London, where her impoverished, alcoholic mother dressed her in the clothes of her deceased half-brother, Mark, knowing that “Mark” would have many more opportunities in life. Not even her best friend Nat knew of her deception—at least not until the two ran away together to work on merchant ships. McNamara vividly portrays the challenges of a woman sailor pretending to be a man, as well as her sexual attraction to both Nat and, later, Anne Bonny, who escaped from her abusive but well-connected husband to serve as the mistress of notorious pirate caption John “Calico Jack” Rackham.

McNamara seamlessly weaves history and descriptions of London slums, Rotterdam docks, and the forests and beaches of Caribbean islands into a story that is constantly on the move. She contrasts the relatively egalitarian pirates with the exploitative relations of the merchant ships and military vessels. Readers see the vulnerability of women during this period, who were basically considered the property of their fathers and husbands, as well as the dangers facing LGBTQ people no matter where they lived. Above all, this is a gripping tale full of conflict, action, romance, and difficult choices, among which choosing one’s gender identity, taking on gender roles, and loving another human being despite society’s rules and mores was the most challenging of all.