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The Pirate Queen: In Search of Grace O'Malley and Other Legendary Women of the Sea Paperback – June 1, 2004

by Barbara Sjoholm (Author)
3.8 3.8 out of 5 stars 20 ratings
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The Pirate Queen begins in Ireland with the infamous Grace O’Malley, a ruthless pirate and scourge to the most powerful fleets of sixteenth-century Europe. This Irish clan chieftain, sea captain, and pirate queen was a contemporary of Elizabeth I, a figure whose life is the stuff of myth. Regularly raiding English ships caught off Ireland’s west coast, O’Malley was purported to have fought the Spanish armada just hours after giving birth to her son. She had several husbands in her lifetime, and acquired lands and castles that still dot the Irish coastline today.

But Grace O’Malley was not alone. Since ancient times, women have rowed and sailed, commanded and fished, built boats and owned fleets. As pirate, captain’s wives, lighthouse keepers and sailors in disguise they’ve explored coastlines and set off alone across unknown seas. Yet their incredible contributions have been nearly erased from the history books. In The Pirate Queen, Barbara Sjoholm brings some of these extraordinary women back to life, taking the reader on an unforgettable journey from the wild Irish coast to the haunting Scandinavian fjords in this meticulously researched, colorfully written, and truly original work
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Previous page
  1. Print length
    384 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publication date
    June 1, 2004
  4. Dimensions
    5.5 x 0.96 x 8.5 inches
  5. ISBN-10
    158005109X
  6. ISBN-13
    978-1580051095
  7. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

Appeals to a broad range of readers, particularly those who are interested in reclaiming the lost history of women's contributions. -- Foreword magazine

Barbara Sjoholm is a skilled and stylish writer . . . I fell for her, hook, line, and sinker from the first page. -- Bitch magazine

Sjoholm brings to life many remarkable stories of maritime women in this fascinating book. -- The Oregonian

Sjoholm's imagination is so fertile she takes on new personas during her journey. -- The Seattle Times

[Sjoholm's] description of land and seascapes are rhapsodie and vivid, and her evocation of people is uncanny. -- Bremerton Sun

About the Author

Barbara Sjoholm is the author, as Barbara Wilson, of the PEN Award-nominated memoir Blue Windows and the editor of the recently released Steady as She Goes: Women’s Adventures at Sea. Her essays and travel narratives have appeared in The American Scholar, the North American Review, the New York Times, and Smithsonian. She lives in Seattle.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Seal Press (June 1, 2004)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 384 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 158005109X
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1580051095
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 15.5 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.96 x 8.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.8 3.8 out of 5 stars 20 ratings

About the author

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Barbara Sjoholm

Barbara Sjoholm

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I’m a nonfiction writer, novelist, and translator. Much of my focus as a nonfiction writer has been on Scandinavia and the Indigenous Sámi people of the Nordic countries. My latest book is the cultural history, From Lapland to Sápmi: Collecting and Returning Sámi Craft and Culture (2023). I have also written The Palace of the Snow Queen: Winter Travels in Lapland and Sápmi. I translate from Danish (By the Fire: Sami Folktales) and Norwegian (Clearing Out by Helene Uri) and have received awards from the American Scandinavian Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. My essays have appeared in The New York Times, Smithsonian, Slate, and American Scholar, as well as other publications.

Books published before 2002 are written under the name Barbara Wilson.

I live in the Pacific Northwest.

Customer reviews

3.8 out of 5 stars
3.8 out of 5
20 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

A reader in Olympia, Washington
5.0 out of 5 stars Remembering the forgotten
Reviewed in the United States on August 8, 2006
The Pirate Queen contains numerous well-researched stories of the many historical and present-day women whose home is the sea. This is not just a book about Grace O'Malley, though she is amply covered in four chapters, but rather it brings to life the many well and lesser known women whose voices and stories have long been forgotten. Sjoholm obviously took great care to convey the histories in an accurate and interesting way and the depth of her research is admirable. But she wasn't simply writing a history book; this is about her journey too and that's what gives The Pirate Queen its accessibility and warmth. As I read Sjoholm's book, I felt like I traveled and went to many places that I will never see, and also learned about women I never knew existed. The repeated theme of women being forgotten, or their roles diminished, by history books and even contemporary scholars, is a tragedy too often seen in so many professions. I, for one, am glad that Barbara Sjoholm took the time to get these stories on the page.
4 people found this helpful
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Anastasia Hobbet
4.0 out of 5 stars A poor title but a good book
Reviewed in the United States on April 26, 2011
Sjoholm should have re-titled this book and re-written those first couple of chapters. Packaged as is, they make for a misleading hook, thus all these disappointed, even exasperated, readers. I find myself wondering if the flashy title was her publisher's idea, and she wrote those early Grace O'Malley chapters more with more hope than good judgment. They don't belong in this otherwise fine book--or at least they don't belong in this form, in which Sjoholm promises a much different book than she delivers. What she delivers is excellent, both educational and entertaining. She got me interested in a topic I felt I had very little interest in, no small feat. She's a travel writer, first and foremost, with the travel writer's propensity toward some autobiography. I like that. But the title is a problem--and it's lost her many potential fans, I feel sure.
2 people found this helpful
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C. M. Kirkwood, PhD
5.0 out of 5 stars History and travel essay beautifully interwoven
Reviewed in the United States on June 1, 2005
Sjoholm takes us on a journey out to the furthest reaches, geographically and historically, of women's seafaring. Repeatedly met by locals' adamant protests that 'the women never went to sea', Sjoholm employs both humor and wit as she unravels buried or overlooked evidence that women not only went to sea, but they forged identities and livelihoods there, leaving behind heroic legends that have been long absent from accessible recorded history.

What I liked most about this book was the way Sjoholm's journey out was, inevitably, also a journey inward. Her pursuit of forgotten women fathomed submerged aspects of her own identity. In the true essence of travel essay, she reminds us there is a profoundly transformative relationship between the stories, places, and people which travelers (and researchers) discover and the stories of ourselves.

Having traveled some of this route myself, I appreciated Sjoholm's keen eye for the vibrant eccentricities of remote coastal communities and was wistfully reminded of how my own travels shaped my life. The book awakened the traveler in me and I was left hungry for pilgrimage and the reckoning of self that awaits us on stark, outer shores.
5 people found this helpful
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Jenn
3.0 out of 5 stars like Richard Zacks' excellent tome on Captain Kidd ("The Pirate ...
Reviewed in the United States on May 20, 2017
Verified Purchase
I do confess - Pirate Queen Grace O'Malley was really the primary draw for me in this book - based on the jacket, I thought it was more of an in depth book, like Richard Zacks' excellent tome on Captain Kidd ("The Pirate Hunter").

What I got, instead - was a single chapter about Grace O'Malley and lots of references to people who apparently know more about and wrote more about her -- and a travelogue covering different roles women played in different communities in the north/west of European coastal communities. And a lot of personal reflections and musings on love for the sea and reinventing oneself.

Yes - it was confusing for a few chapters - a bit of a bait and switch. But, some of what she wrote was interesting. Some of what she wrote was silly - but not as silly as some of Bill Bryson's travel stuff and personal reflections. Interesting but not necessarily a reflection of much primary source research -- more of a hobby/personal book.
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Megan O
1.0 out of 5 stars Where's the story?
Reviewed in the United States on May 26, 2006
This book was very disappointing. I read five pages and returned it to the store. The title was very misleading.

I sat down to read about Grainne and her female contemporaries and ended up reading about how the author had dinner and tea with some Americans... so something or other. After I read that far, I put it down and took a nap.
12 people found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars THE MERMAIDS YOU NEVER KNEW, BUT NEED TO...
Reviewed in Canada on May 19, 2018
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Fascinating historical stories of our unsung, unrecognized by the majority of the world, heroines of the seafaring world. Loved this read!
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