Helpful Score: 1
If you enjoy pirate stories for foodies, with a subtle romance thrown in for good measure, this is the book for you. Not sure that I can name another book like it. My reading challenge was the incredibly unusual vocabulary of author Eli Brown coupled with my dire lack of seafaring knowledge (i.e., mizzen, bulwark, forecastle, windlass). With that said, Julie Powell's endorsement describes this book as a "great beach read," and I agree that the tone is light and airy despite the swashbuckling violence peppered throughout. Not only was the action packed, but the author fully developed his main characters: Owen Wedgwood and Mad Hannah Mabbot. Great names, huh? At times, this book felt akin to the Pirates of the Caribbean movies - a bit of a parody of the pirate life - but, then again, who takes pirate stories too seriously anyway. Fun read for me.
I picked up this book because of the title and I didn't recognize the author. I do this so I know I haven't already read the book. Sometimes you get lucky and find a jewel like this book, mixing a pirate and a chef. I went into it with no expectations, but was gripped by the characters so opposite of the other. A female pirate captures a chef on a whim, his job on ship board to produce a meal for the captain once a week. There is little on board to make a meal. The mix of intelligent chef concocting meals from nearly nothing and the pirate being more than ruthless make this a feast. Throw in history of the opium /silk /tea trade and you have a great story. I loved it.
Neat story, tongue in cheek humor in places.
