Jacky the Cabin...Girl?

Aarghh, mateys! How goes the battle?

This week, I read Bloody Jack by L.A. Meyer. Bloody Jack is part of a long running series with the most recent book called The Wake of the Lorelei Lee, which is the eighth book. I’ve seen the last few books as they’ve come out, so I figured I’d read the first one to see where the books started.

Bloody Jack tells the story of Mary (now Jacky) Faber, who starts the book as a street urchin in London, 1797. Looking for consistent meals and a roof over her head, Mary gets onboard a British naval vessel, as a cabin boy! Mary chops off her hair, wears baggy pants, and changes her name to Jacky. Although she’s amazed at three meals a day and clothes on her back, she obviously has a hard time convincing the rough sea dogs that she’s one of them when actually she isn’t. Meyer got the idea for the novel after listening to folk songs from the period that had to do with cabin boys who wound up being cabin girls and falling for an officer or fellow sailor. Jacky has to find ways to keep her secret while wresting with puberty, creepy sailors onboard, dangerous pirates not on board, and her feelings for Jaimy, who actually is a boy and who she is crazy about.

Obviously, the premise of the book kind of presupposes some discussion on the differences between the sexes and how a girl could hide who she actually is from a bunch of men. There are a few rough scenes regarding her girlhood and a stalker sailor, and a few other violent scenes because they are on a naval vessel. But overall, the book is interesting to read and I enjoyed it.