The Ballad of Jacquotte Delahaye -- Briony Cameron

<b>This "thrilling, swashbuckling story" (<i>People</i>) 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.</b> <p/>In the tumultuous town of Y?quimo, 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. <p/>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. <p/>Passionate, action-packed, and unputdownable, <i>The Ballad of</i> <i>Jacquotte Delahaye </i>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 <i>Amo