The Pirate's Daughter Margaret Cezair-Thompson

An unforgettable story of love and adventure, spanning three decades of Jamaican history.

Jamaica, 1946.  Errol Flynn washes up on in the Zaca, his storm-wrecked yacht.  Ida Joseph, the teenaged daughter of Port Antonio's Justice of the Peace, is intrigued to learn that the 'World's Handsomest Man' is on the island, and makes it her business to meet him. For the jaded swashbuckler, Jamaica is a tropical paradise that Ida, unfazed by his celebrity, seems to share. Soon Flynn has made a home for himself on Navy Island, where he entertains the cream of Hollywood at parties that become a byword for decadence  - and Ida has set her heart on marrying this charismatic older man who has singled her out for his attention.  Flynn and Ida do not marry, but Ida bears Flynn a daughter, May, who will meet her father but once.  The Pirate's Daughter is a tale of passion and recklessness, of two generations of women and their battles for love and survivial, and of a nation struggling to rise to the challenge of hard-won independence.

Editorials

• The Independent, 23rd November 2007

  '...the breathtaking pace and verve...make it a delight; a touch of summer reading in a grim winter'

• Review

  'An unabashedly frangipani-scented - and wholly satisfying - armchair read'

  (Vogue )
  
  

  'Breathtaking pace and verve... a delight'

  (Independent )
  
  

  'A love song to a slice of paradise that's teetering on the edge... a complete joy'

  (Daily Mirror )
  
  

  ' A joy to read, at once humorous, touching and poetic... The Pirate's Daughter charms as surely as any dashing film hero'

  (Sunday Telegraph )
  
  

  'Cezair-Thompson has a light enough touch to tie such weighty issues as race, class and politics...a panorama of the diverse life of Jamaica held together by a sense of beguilement with the island itself'

  (Time Out )

• The Daily Express, 23rd November 2007

  ' wonderful descriptions of life in Port Antonio....the book really comes to life when the handsome Flynn is around...no doubt this will be a big seller as it's already much talked about...'
  

• Sunday Telegraph, Dec 1, 2007

  Cezair-Thompson's evocations of Jamaican life, and especially her renditions of the bivrant local patios, are a joy to read, at once humourous, touching and poetic...The Pirate's Daughter charms as surely as any dashing film hero.

• Daily Express, Dec 15, 2007

  Wonderful descriptions of life in Port Antonio....the book really comes to life when the handsome Flynn is around...no doubt this will be a big seller as it's already much talked about.

• SAGA Magazine, Dec, 2007

  An astonishing love song to Jamaica' and `a romantic tour de force that provocatively confronts the concepts of historical Hollywood, modern colonialism and passionate adventure.

• Washington Post, November 2007

  A surprising yarn that is rich, salty, and ultimately satisfying...sparkles with characters real and imagined.

• USA Today November 2007

  The Pirate's Daughter offers plenty of serious passion and escape.

• Synopsis

  An unforgettable story of love and adventure, spanning three decades of Jamaican history.Jamaica, 1946. Errol Flynn washes up on in the Zaca", his storm-wrecked yacht. Ida Joseph, the teenaged daughter of Port Antonio's Justice of the Peace, is intrigued to learn that the 'World's Handsomest Man' is on the island, and makes it her business to meet him. For the jaded swashbuckler, Jamaica is a tropical paradise that Ida, unfazed by his celebrity, seems to share. Soon Flynn has made a home for himself on Navy Island, where he entertains the cream of Hollywood at parties that become a byword for decadence - and Ida has set her heart on marrying this charismatic older man who has singled her out for his attention. Flynn and Ida do not marry, but Ida bears Flynn a daughter, May, who will meet her father but once. The Pirate's Daughter" is a tale of passion and recklessness, of two generations of women and their battles for love and survivial, and of a nation struggling to rise to the challenge of hard-won independence.