CULTURE EDITION
FRANCESCA DE TORES SALTBLOOD Prepare to be boarded: strap in for this swashbuckling adventure set in the Golden Age of Piracy, which tells the tale of Mary Read, arguably one of the most notorious pirates who ever sailed the seas – and certainly one of the most famous women to do so. De Tores has sifted through the tattered rags of Mary’s known history and carried out some extraordinary additional research: the result is this fantastic historical fiction debut which turns the spotlight on the astonishing life of this 17th-century legend. The book opens in 1685. Mary is born just as her young half-brother Mark is dying – an opportunity which allows her impoverished mother to disguise her new baby girl as her brother and continue to receive support from Mark’s wealthy paternal grandmother. Life as Mary would involve physical labour, probable marriage, unavoidable child-rearing and likely death at a young age – but as young Mark, Mary is suddenly free to explore the world. He gains employment as a footman in service to a young French noblewoman, where he learns how to conceal his sex and pass unseen through society – before escaping to the navy, where Mark picks up his seafaring skills and falls in love with the possibilities of the open ocean. He enlists in the army and fights in the Flanders battlefields, but in the bloody turbulence of war, it is not long before Mark’s true identity is unmasked. Widowed, bereaved and homeless, Mary takes to the sea again as neither man nor woman – but as a pirate. This is a gripping read with unforgettable characterisation: Mary’s determined code-switching and sparse yet deeply thoughtful assessment of her fluid sexuality, her outward identity and her life choices is almost poetic in places, as she arrives at her unabashedly truest self. And the beautifully descriptive passages of life aboard deck will transport you to a creaking wooden vessel sailing through the still waters of a Caribbean dawn. This novel is a treasure not to be missed: add it to your to-read pile immediately. Book Club From contemporary bestsellers to groundbreaking queer classics, dive into an eclectic mix of brilliant LGBTQ+ fiction this Pride Month Words CHARLOTTE GRIFFITHS
JULIA ARMFIELD Now available in paperback and captivating from the very first lines, this novel tells the story of Miri and Leah, a married couple living in London who are trying to re-enter normal life after oceanographer Leah’s recent expedition beneath the waves. The ambiguously named Centre, the organiser of the mission, is proving less than forthcoming with follow-up support, leaving Miri floundering and adrift as she tries to cope with Leah’s strange and increasingly unsettling needs, fundamentally altered by her underwater experiences. A slow drip of information is shared as the book descends into the depths, leaving the reader to piece together what really happened down there, adding to the growing sense of unease and, in parts, hand-to-mouth horror. The gothic nature of Leah’s worsening condition is exquisitely set against mundane domestic matters such as the neighbour’s loud television, articles in the newspaper or memories of the couple’s more easy-going happinesses. Julia’s prose is staggeringly beautiful – like the deepest, most unexplored parts of the ocean, it looks sparse at first, but is teeming with life when you let it wash over you. Mesmerisingly romantic in the oldest, truest sense of the word, by the time the book resurfaces you’re left bereft, heartbroken for the lovers and awe-struck at nature’s unknowable vastness, which is depicted so magnificently in this tiny, intimate tale of two women and their unbounded love for each other. Our Wives Under The Sea
18 JUNE 2024 CAMBSEDITION.CO.UK
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