Mary Read. Mark Read. Unwanted daughter. Dead son. Feared pirate. Wife. Mother. Lover.

SALT BLOOD
by Francesca De Tores
‎ Bloomsbury, 2024
(via Mushens Entertainment)

SALT BLOOD follows Mary Read – sometimes living as Mark Read – the infamous pirate who terrorised the seas in the Golden Age of Piracy. Raised as a boy in order to collect inheritance money, they continued to live as a man during a stint in the navy, before returning to sea as a woman and eventually becoming a feared pirate alongside Anne Bonny.
Mary Read lived untold lives, and this novel takes you on a coming-of-age journey from grand houses to ships sailing beneath a flag of death, from the misery of loss to the untold pleasures of love. Francesca’s research was impeccable and she was fascinated by the intricacies and nuances of Mary’s existence, gender presentation, and love.

Francesca De Tores has previously been published as Francesca Haig (where she has published award-winning poetry, a YA fantasy trilogy, and a literary contemporary novel). This is her historical debut. Francesca is a former creative-writing lecturer and her previous novels have received starred reviews from Kirkus, Booklist and Library Journal with rave reviews from Jessie Burton, the Guardian and the Daily Mail amongst others.