The Ballad of Jacquotte Delahaye, Briony Cameron
The Ballad of Jacquotte Delahaye, Briony Cameron
List: $26.99 | Sale: $18.89
Club: $13.49

The Ballad of Jacquotte Delahaye

Author: Briony Cameron

Narrator: Angel Pean

Unabridged: 12 hr 36 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 06/04/2024


Synopsis

This “thrilling, swashbuckling story” (People) based on true events illuminates a woman of color’s rise to power as one of the few female pirate captains to sail the Caribbean, and a forbidden love story that will shape the course of history.

In the tumultuous town of Yáquimo, Santo Domingo, Jacquotte Delahaye is an up-and-coming shipwright, but her ambitions are bound by the confines of her self-seeking French father. When her way of life and the delicate balance of power in the town are threatened, she is forced to flee her home and become a woman on the run along with a motley crew of refugees, including a mysterious young woman named Teresa.

Jacquotte and her band become indentured servants to the infamous Blackhand, a ruthless pirate captain who rules his ship with an iron fist. As they struggle to survive, Jacquotte finds herself unable to resist Teresa despite their differences. When Blackhand hatches a dangerous scheme to steal a Portuguese shipment of jewels, Jacquotte must rely on her wits, resourcefulness, and friends to survive. But she discovers there is a grander, darker scheme of treachery at play, and she ultimately must decide what price she is willing to pay to secure a better future for them all.

Passionate, action-packed, and unputdownable, The Ballad of Jacquotte Delahaye is “a beautiful and, at times, gut-wrenching tale of found family, self-discovery, and the true meaning of freedom” (M. J. Kuhn, author of Among Thieves).

About Briony Cameron

Briony Cameron is a queer disabled writer based in Cardiff, UK. Her father was of Jamaican, Panamanian, and Cuban heritage and her mother is of English and Welsh heritage. She studied English and creative writing at university, graduating in 2020. She has a keen love of history that began with her first reading of The Three Musketeers as a child. She has been writing since she could pick up a pencil, first emulating the comic books her dad raised her on before moving on to novels. In 2020 her short story “The Nantes Affair” was longlisted for the Crime Writers’ Association Short Story Competition, and her debut novel, The Ballad of Jacquotte Delahaye, was longlisted that same year for the Penguin WriteNow Competition, and in 2021 it was shortlisted for the Lucy Cavendish Prize. Alongside writing, she is an avid knitter and she loves to play videogames and spend time with her dog, Keanu.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Annette

The Ballad of Jacquotte Delahaye explores the life of a legendary mulatto, queer female pirate who rose from adversity to achieve freedom from the oppressive hands of men. 1655, Santo Domingo: at the age of eleven, Jacquotte begins her apprenticeship on numerous ships as a shipwright. Following the d......more

Goodreads review by JulesGP

First and foremost,The Ballad of Jacquotte Delahaye is a crash-bang, swashbuckler of a story. Ships battling on the high seas of the Caribbean, pirates mercilessly cutting down mercenaries, and treasure gotten by all bloody means. Jacquotte is the daughter of an exiled French nobleman and a free bla......more

Goodreads review by Wobilba

This did not work for me at all. I could not bring myself to care about these characters or their stories. I was excited about the queer pirate romance when I got this book but this said romance which was a secondary plot was a disappointment. Those two had zero chemistry. For a pirate story with lot......more

Goodreads review by Bandit

Jacquotte Delahaye may or may not have existed. That has never stopped anyone from spinning a good yarn. Or in this case an average yarn but loaded with enough pirate pizazz to make you overlook its shortcomings. Almost. I am being too critical? I don’t want to be. I LOVE pirate stories. And female p......more

Goodreads review by Heidi

2.5⭐️s. The first half of the book I thought was good, maybe even 4 stars good. It had a well written story with good character development so you understood how Jacquotte came to be, and where her story began. The adventure and action had me interested and invested in the story and I enjoyed it up......more


Quotes

"Pean fully inhabits the bold Jacquot, who fearlessly stands up to men, and gives textured intonations and accents to the many multiracial characters. Her poignant depiction of the tenderness between Jacquot and Theresa softens the frequent scenes of fighting."