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The Pirate and The Puritan
Mary Clayton
The Wild Rose Press
Print released January 2008
ISBN#: 1-60154-119-8
Historical
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Synopsis:
1704 – Dangerous times, when the colonies of the Americas are threatened
by Queen Anne’s War. It is not the French but a pirate who captures Mercy
Penhall, mute Puritan spinster. In fear for her life and virtue yet drawn to
the captain in spite of herself, Mercy has unknowingly begun on a course of
adventure, heartbreak that will test her courage to the utmost. And in the
end the secret she carries in her soul threatens to prevent even the small
chance of happiness inherent in an impossible love.
Edmund Gramercy is an unwilling pirate, forced to join a hostile crew to
save his life. He defies them to spare the lives of the vanquished and the
virtue of the women. But the mute Puritan girl tempts him like no other. It
is best to set her free and never see her again. A pirate's life is a short
one - for her own sake he cannot claim her.
Yet their paths cross again, then again. He is drawn to her but his passion
is hopeless. He is a wanted man. To love a decent woman is impossible. And
there is a strange shadow behind her brave blue eyes...
Can the impossible become possible for the pirate and the Puritan?"
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SRR GRADE: C+
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Mercy Penhall lost her voice at the age of twelve
when she watched her mother hang after being accused of being a witch. Taken
in by an uncle to avoid the stigma of her mothers death, she lives with him
upon his death.
As she is crossing the ocean to live with her step-brother and his family he
ship is attacked by pirates. Most of the crew is killed, but Mercy is
claimed by the Captain, Edmund Gramercy as his part of the booty.
Edmund knows that the little Puritan is as innocent as they come. Put in
charge of the ship, basically a prisoner himself, he tries to save her from
a fate worse than death. He keeps her in his cabin to keep her safe.
Neither ever thought that love could happen between them. Though Edmund
takes only a few chaste kisses, he puts a mark on Mercy that could never be
erased. She’s fallen in love with a pirate.
Edmund arranges for her to ‘escape’ and both try to forget the other. But
then Mercy learns that Edmund has been caught and has been charged with
piracy. If found guilty he will hang.
With the help of a few friends she never would have met being a good
Puritan, she tries to help Edmund as much as she can. Working a dangerous
escape plan, they break him free of the prison.
When Mercy watches as Edmund is recaptured and hung, she loses all hope.
But, with the horror of seeing him hang, her voice returns. That leaves her
at the mercy of a religious fanatic. Tortured and beaten, she is near death
when and unexpected rescue takes place.
Which of her new friends has come to her rescue. And is Edmund truly dead?
Or is something else going on?
The Pirate and the Puritan is a full length novel. Based mainly
aboard ships, it tells of the life of a pirate and when Mercy is on land, it
tells of the strict Puritan life she leads. It is a fine tale, and can be
read by all ages. There are places that will make you cry, for life in that
time was not kind to anyone. But the basis of the love story is bittersweet
in places and in others you feel the love between the two. Especially as
they overcome more than just religion.
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| ~Reviewed by
Melisa |
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