The Unbinding of Mary Reade is yet another fictional take on the lives of titular Mary Reade and her cohort in crime, Anne Bonny (alternatively spelled Mary Read and Anne Bonney), both of whom were notorious pirates in the Golden Age of Piracy. The action takes place primarily in the years 1717-1720, although it does begin the action in Mary's childhood in 1704.

Author Miriam McNamara tells Mary's story in episodic form, with chapters jumping between her present -- which begins with an attack on the merchant ship Zilveren Vissen, on which Mary, disguised as a boy, served on the crew -- and her past, when she posed as her deceased brother Mark to fool her rich grandmother into giving her a monthly allowance to keep her and her mother in food and gin. Both stories progress from there, with McNamara jumping back and forth in time as Mary's identity evolves.

As a child and young woman, she is almost always playacting the role of a boy, wearing a boy's clothing and binding her chest as she grows into a woman's shape. She begins to develop feelings for her closest friend, Nat, who of course believes her to be male. Eventually, she runs away and goes to sea, taking a job as a sailor ... which is how she runs into Captain Jack Rackham and his consort, Anne Bonny, who fights by his side in a bright red dress. The excitement of seeing a woman unafraid to live openly in a man's world quickly convinces Mary to betray her brutal captain and join the pirate band.

That begins the evolution of a love-hate relationship between Mary and Anne, the latter of whom is reliant on "Calico Jack" to protect her from other men on the ship, as well as the far-reaching fury of her spurned husband, James Bonny, who has the ear of Woodes Rogers, governor of the Bahamas. Nassau, the capital city of the Bahamas, is also where Mary hopes to find Nat, whom she had fled after his sudden discovery of her gender.

But, while Mary believes she loves Nat, she also had developed feelings for a serving girl in her grandmother's employ ... and now she finds herself crushing hard on Anne, too.

In fact, much of the book focuses on Mary's personal confusion over her identity and her growth into who she wants to be. Readers who are struggling with their own identities might find that aspect of the book appealing, even inspiring.

The Unbinding of Mary Reade tells a very different version of her biography from what I have seen in past novelizations, but given the paucity of details on her life, some creative license is certainly to be expected. In this version, for instance, she was not previously married, nor did she serve in the army before switching to naval service.

There is also a surprising number of references to walking the plank, which isn't something pirates actually did back then.

The book ends on a hopeful note, coming to a close before the unhappy ending that, historically, we know awaited Mary and Anne.

To date, my favorite novel about these characters has been James L. Nelson's The Only Life That Mattered, first published as The Sweet Trade under the pseudonym Elizabeth Garrett. The Unbinding of Mary Reade does not supplant Nelson's work, but it's a good addition to the lore. McNamara gives Mary a believable voice, exploring with a sympathetic eye the grim realities of a young woman who had few good options in front of her but made the best she could have her situation.

Certain readers might call the subject matter "woke," which is a description typically used by people of limited empathy and comprehension, but Anne and Mary were both women who defied society's expectations and found their own place in the world. Sadly for them, their freedom did not last long.

Fans of the subject should also check out Nelson's book, certainly, but might also enjoy Jane Yolen's The Ballad of the Pirate Queens and Jeffrey S. Williams' Pirate Spirit: The Adventures of Anne Bonney. (Sandra Riley's Sisters of the Sea, on the other hand, is probably best avoided.)