Wednesday, December 8, 2010

The Pirate Queen


The Pirate Queen by Patricia Hickman is the story of Saphora who is getting ready to leave her husband. She has everything a woman could want except the love between a man and a woman. Their marriage is more one of convenience than of love. But as she prepares to leave home to escape to a coastal home, Bender hits her with the news that he is dying. Saphora, always doing what is right, sticks by her husband through his illness; even taking him to her getaway by the shore.
Once at their second home, there are many visitors - from their children to new found neighbors and friends, even a minister (which is surprising since Bender hasn't set foot in a church in who knows how long). Life for them changes - but I don't want to spoil it so I won't reveal details. I wish the author had delved more into Saphora's spiritual journey - there seemed to be much more that could have been explored.
I found most of the characters in The Pirate Queen to be believable - from the always working distant Bender to the do what is right Saphora to the sick young boy Tobias. The only one that struck me as less than real was the neighbor Luke whom dug in his backyard by the moonlight.
A few things that struck me were that the pastor made note that a Bible verse was a metaphor and not to be taken literally and the pastor said he couldn't tell what Bender had confessed (but this pastor wasn't a Catholic priest).
I enjoyed this book and will look for more works by Patricia Hickman. If you click here, you can read chapter one of The Pirate Queen.
I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review

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