Book review: The Pirate Queen by Ariel Lawhon
A rollicking read about an uncompromising woman of the past.
Story
Ireland, 1535. Grace O’Malley (aka Grainne) a wayward chieftain’s daughter in wild Connaught, desperately wants to ride, to fight and to go to sea. Instead, she is coerced into early marriage with malicious Donal O’Flaherty, while pining for another chieftain’s son.
When Grace finally escapes O’Flaherty, she is caught in skirmishes and outright warfare with neighbouring Irish families and the English colonists. One pursues an endless vendetta against her and her family until Grace is forced to appeal to Queen Elizabeth herself.
Setting
In the far west of Ireland, nature is as untamed and unpredictable as the warring Irish dynasties. Navigating the islands, rocks, tides and storms of the Atlantic coast appears as perilous as surviving the bloodthirsty politicking of rival chieftains and their ambitious heirs. The heaving, filthy cities of Galway, Dublin and London are depicted as equally dangerous.
Character
Grace O’Malley dominates the book. Headstrong and defiant even as a child, always resisting the roles laid out for her as a chieftain’s daughter. She learns how to protect herself with a concealed kitchen knife, to command a sailing ship, and to plan vicious attacks on her enemies, be they Irish or English. Fiercely loyal to her parents, brother, children and her men, she will move mountains and challenge authority to save them from harm. Her confidence and daring drive her to confront rivals, pirate captains and English aristocracy even when all is stacked against her.
Grace is the centre of most chapters, yet from time to time the author moves into the heads of other characters, in part to show how they perceive Grace and how they react to her. The O’Malley, her father; Donal, her brother; O’Flaherty, her devious first husband; and Richard, her true love, are admiring if sometimes floored by her behaviour. Her English nemesis, Sir Richard Bingham, despises her and is frustrated by her ability to evade his clutches.
My Opinion
The Pirate Queen covers Grace’s entire life, from childhood to old age. This is divided into three sections: Maiden, Mother and Matriarch. The author made a bold choice to tell all three stories concurrently: so a chapter on Maiden is followed by one on Mother, then one on Matriarch, and so on throughout the book.
This is at first confusing, with incidents referred to in the “Matriarch” chapters that we haven’t yet seen play out in the “Maiden” or “Mother” chapters. Further confounded by multiple characters called Donal, Eoin or Richard - but we must blame history for that, not Ms Lawhon. I made extensive use of the character list in the front of the book.
In the author’s note, Ms Lawhon does suggest that on re-reading the novel, one could read the chapters chronologically. At over 490 pages, reading it twice might be a big ask, even for the most enthusiastic reader. One could consider flagging chapter types by colour and reading in date order.
What the structure does do is emphasise the connections between different decades, and the cause and effect of actions taken early in life on later years - an interesting philosophical concept when reviewing a life in the round.
Little exists on the historical record about Grace O’Malley. Male members of her family are well documented, but she is only mentioned in her appeal to Gloriana at the end of her life. Instead the author has relied on the legend of the “Pirate Queen” to construct her narrative.
This legend persists even today. As I read a proof copy (before the publication date) on a plane to Dublin, the middle aged Irishman next to me asked, ‘Is that a story about Grace O’Malley?’ And proceeded to regale me with his own anecdotes about the Pirate Queen.
I knew very little of early Irish history before reading this book - and it is not required to enjoy the descriptions of nature on land and sea, and the machinations of the English trying to control Irish chieftains on their own turf.
The structure of the book demands a fair bit of concentration, but many of the action sequences of battles or maritime adventure left me breathless - akin to Tolkien or Game of Thrones.
A rollicking read about an uncompromising woman of the past.
Author website: https://www.ariellawhon.com/
Published in the UK by Swift Press 10 Sep 26
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