Blackhearts: A Novel

Nicole Castroman

Feb 2016 · Simon and Schuster

About this ebook

In this stunningly creative debut “filled with well-drawn characters…and smoldering passion,” (Booklist) Nicole Castroman reimagines the origins of history’s most infamous pirate—Blackbeard.

When Edward “Teach” Drummond, son of one of Bristol’s richest merchants, returns home from a year at sea, he finds his life in shambles. Betrothed to a girl he doesn’t love and sick of the high society he was born into, all Teach wants is to return to the vast ocean he calls home. There’s just one problem: he must convince his father to let him leave and never come back.

Following the death of her parents, Anne Barrett is left penniless. Though she’s barely worked a day in her life, Anne takes a job as a maid in the home of Master Drummond. Lonely days stretch into weeks and Anne longs to escape the confines of her now mundane life. How will she ever achieve her dream of sailing to Curaçao—her mother’s birthplace—when she’s trapped in England?

From the moment Teach and Anne meet, they set the world ablaze. Drawn together by a shared desire for freedom, but kept apart by Teach’s father, their love is as passionate as it is forbidden. Faced with an impossible choice, Teach and Anne must decide whether to chase their dreams and leave England forever—or follow their hearts and stay together.

Ratings and reviews

A historical fiction about a notorious pirate? Sign me up! Blackhearts builds a wonderful story about Edward Teach and what he was before he became Blackbeard. The son of a wealthy merchant, Teach had every luxury in life, except the freedom to do what he wanted. He lived for adventure, and the sea, and sees a kindred heart in Anne, a biracial girl who feels out of place in a time that is very racist. Anne is the hidden illegitimate daughter of his family friend, but comes to work as a maid in his household. Their initial interactions are charged more with frequent arguments, and it slowly develops into a tentative friendship and eventually into romance. Certainly helps that the both of them are beautiful. A big part of the storyline is the divide between them: society won’t ever look at their relationship at properly, and his father would have him make an advantageous match. The pirate part is not really a part now, but there certainly is foreshadowing. Teach’s gentle character and the way the author spoke of how she came to write this story certainly add an extra dimension to this infamous historical figure. Anne’s role in the storyline and her voice, too, complement the plot so well, but I feel her story has much more to tell. This is definitely a series I am eager to be following.

I burned through this book quickly and loved every moment. The ending let me shocked and starving for the sequel! Beautifully told, full of love.

About the author

Nicole Castroman received her BA from Brigham Young University and has lived in Germany, Austria, and two different places called Georgia. One is the country near the Black Sea; the other is the state of Georgia where she currently lives with her husband and children. She is the author of Blackhearts and Blacksouls.