Sometimes the women have to pitch and do a man’s job. It happened during WWII, but there have been many other times when women stepped up and surprised everyone with their competence and toughness.
A historical novel, set in Australia, Seafaring Women is the story of a ship captain’s wife who finds herself widowed in a port far from home. Alice undertakes to finish the voyage her husband started, but all her sailors have abandoned ship for the gold fields, except one aged crew member, Gypsy. They recruit a crew of women who are trying to get away from the misery of life in brothels and bars of Melbourne. Gypsy undertakes to train the crew in how to sail the ship, but he has to hurry because the womens’ former “employers” are looking to get their women back. They make it out of Melbourne and manage to overcome calm winds, pirates, and kidnappings. And this is just the first in the Hearts of Oak series.
It’s interesting to note that the book is written by a veteran novelist and her son, who loves historical research and once spent some time in Australia. All told, it’s a great story, well-told. I can’t wait for the next volume.
~ Auntie Em (review of The Seafaring Women of the Vera B.)