Book Nook: Cinnamon and Gunpowder

Do you like daring adventures, reckless heroines and gourmet food? You do!? Then this is a must read for you! I requested Cinnamon and Gunpowder at my local library after seeing the book in a list of the most interesting book covers of 2013. While the cover doesn't particularly appeal my idea of an AMAZING cover, it did peak my interest in pirates, particularly female pirates. 

The story starts out with a broad brush stroke of passionate, insensate fear and rage, "This body is not brave." Reader's find out this story is a chronicle of imprisonment and murder. Owen Wedgewood, chef superstar of the 1800s has seen his employer murdered before his very eyes and taken captive by the ferocious pirate Mad Hannah Mabbot (also known as Back from the Dead Red, best nickname ever, I think). While the initial set up seems stereotyped, Wedgewood must cook for Mabbot a fantastic feast every Sunday without repeating anything and his life will be spared, the story moves in a dramatically different direction than Scheherazade and the Arabian Nights. Instead of attempting to soothe the captor, Wedgewood is taken on a journey of self discovery. Mabbot sees herself as freeing him from the oppressive yoke of the Pendleton Trading Company, a yoke that, until capture, Wedgewood had never even realized existed. While Wedgewood is on his own journey inside his head he also has to navigate the complex relationships on Mabbot's ship, and learn to read her mercurial temperament. This isn't the solitary journey that Wedgewood thinks he is on, Mabbot also has secrets to hide and epiphanies to have, but it is through their awkward and fledgling relationship that either character is able to grow. 

If the concept isn't enough to grab your attention, then the writing style of Eli Brown certainly should. It is at once, frank and lyrical. Brown really brings you into the psyche of Wedgewood from his frantic escape plans, deep Catholic conviction, to his love for his deceased wife and his absolute passion for food. The passages about his cooking and the exquisite meals he prepares for his Sunday feasts are so mouthwatering that I found myself looking for a snack whenever I read those passages. Unfortunately, my snacks consisted of cheese sticks and girl scout cookies not the rabbit pie and miso glazed cod I was suddenly craving. 

If you've been interested in stories like Loving Frank, Z, and other historical bio sketches this might be something you would want to pick up. Though the characters aren't historically real, they do bring up a lot of issues for women who wanted out of the heavily controlled lives they lived. Mabbot dressed as a man for many years as a pirate, which is very nearly always the case for the famous female pirates of history. Ann Bonny, Mary Read, James Grey, and others all used men's garb to hide their identity and create a new life for themselves, but ultimately revealed their true gender after winning the trust and possibly, affection, of their crew mates. However, I also think that there is a certain level of inanity that lurks just beneath the surface where fans of Terry Pratchett might find the assembled cast of characters interesting and engaging if not as magical as Discworld usually is. Definitely highly recommended by me!

*This blog is part of a grant Medfield has been awarded through the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services and the Library and Services Technology Act administered by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners.