If you know me, you know that I’m insufferably enamored with pirate stories right now. No regrets.

In A True Account by Katherine Howe, we follow Hannah Masury in the 1700s, as she tells the tale of how she became a pirate. After growing up poor in Boston, she runs afoul of a pirate crew one day, and flees the only home she has ever known. She has to impersonate a cabin boy to get passage away, and soon finds herself participating in a mutiny. The new captain, Edward “Ned” Low, proves to be a fearsome and violent man, and Hannah isn’t sure how long any of the crew will survive under his rule. But Ned is seeking treasure, and Hannah sees this as an opportunity for her to finally get some power over her own life. Meanwhile, in 1930, Professor Marian Beresford reads Hannah’s account and finds herself fascinated. But the veracity of this story is suspect, and Marian grows increasingly determined to solve this mystery, while her undergraduate student Kay looks on.

If you want a fierce pirate tale steeped in history, look no further!

This story is full of action and drama, but also an intriguing examination of how historical records are written and by whom. Hannah makes for a fantastic narrator, unreliable mainly in the ways her story might not even be genuine, but also because she’s a strong-willed, brave, and morally complex person. Her wit and resourcefulness really shine, but also she’s not always entirely likable. The other characters she’s surrounded by, mainly Ned and Seneca, are also complicated people, and it is a really interesting interplay. I quite liked Seneca, and the way he and Hannah bonded. As for Ned, he’s absolutely awful, to a level which I’m sure fits the behavior of the real Ned Low, who was apparently quite a sadistic pirate.

Speaking of this, there is a decent amount of violence and bloodshed. Ned and his crew murder and pillage other ships more than once, and several named characters die. This isn’t a book for the squeamish, probably, but it also doesn’t go too far over the line. There’s also a little bit of sexual content, but it’s mostly off the page.

Anyway, the other storyline—Marian’s investigation of Hannah’s story—is just as fascinating, though in a different way. Seeing how academia functioned in the 30s, especially for women, is eye-opening. I also enjoyed getting to know Marian, and the complex relationships she has with her much-more-famous academic father, and her fame-seeking student Kay. The three of them have an engaging bond, and their scenes were excellent.

In the end, A True Account is wonderful, and the audio version is brilliantly narrated by Petrea Burchard. The themes about history, how stories are told, and the merit of fiction versus nonfiction, are all done so well by Howe. The characters are fearsome and layered, the action is heart-pounding, and the emotions are explored well. This is a marvelous book, whether you’re a fan of swash-buckling, tense adventure, or thought-provoking historical tales. I can see fans of The Lost Apothecary, Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, and The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi finding something to enjoy in this.