"The interlinked tales of two women who walk their own paths across two timeframes amounts to an epic intergenerational novel."
Taking in trailblazing women’s history, legal drama and family saga, S. Lucia Kanter St. Amour’s The Covert Buccaneer is a multi-layered read for those who love immersive female-centred fiction. At the same time, though this is a novel, it’s informed by real-life, including the author’s experience as an attorney and UN work on gender policy, and a real family manuscript from 1919.
San Francisco, 2019, and Ellie is balancing life as a divorced single mother to a young child with disabilities with working as a low-paid climate migrant attorney (her highflying legal career careered off track as a result of her parental responsibilities). When Ellie finds her great-great-grandmother’s diaries, she discovers a remarkable suffragist woman, Teddy, who blazed a trail through forging careers as a miner and real estate developer.
From first meeting Teddy as a determined thirteen-year-old who dreams of going on the road with Papa (“I’m an Ellis and the Ellsises were built to explore!”) through to playing a part in rebuilding San Francisco in the wake of its 1906 earthquake, her voice and experiences are richly-evoked and woven into Ellie’s 21st-century life in unexpected ways.
Exploring resistance, resilience, love and passion through a story that sees the past echo into the present, The Covert Buccaneer’s two timelines (1867–1919 and 2019–2020) means it will appeal to fans of historic and contemporary fiction alike.
| Primary Genre | Historical Fiction |
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Based on two real life family members, this beautifully written book is rich with both history and modern life
Thoroughly enjoyable book based quite strongly on the author’s own family. Written in two time frames, we follow the lives of Teddy, a remarkably forward thinking woman in 19th century America, and her great, great granddaughter Ellie, a lawyer in modern day San Francisco. Both have to overcome sexist and racist issues and the integrity and strength of character in both women shines through the narratives of their lives. Teddy’s commitment to improving the lot of Native Americans, and Ellie’s in helping the poor, under educated and disabled, mirror their unswerving dedication to creating a much fairer society for all.... Read Full Review
Compelling, rich in history, politics, immigration and women at the heart of this wonderful story. The world has moved on but not enough boy have we a way to go. Recommended read.
This was so compelling - a dual timeline story.
This gives a voice to women of history set in American in San Franscisco, a suffragist in the 19th century and a migrant attorney set in modern day. Wow what powerful women linked by blood, and a diary.
This story explores policics, imigration, and gender. All relatable and we can look at how far society and culture have come but boy do we have a way to go.
Well researched, this author writes so well, so recommended.
As someone who actively seeks out fiction that gives voice to forgotten women of history and exposes the uncomfortable truths we’ve too often ignored, this book delivered on every level.
Teddy’s 19th-century story is a fierce reckoning — a transformation from ignorance and privilege to bold defiance and justice.... Read Full Review
A tale of two women, in two different centuries and their lives and resilience. Wonderful read!
What a wonderful historical story! Two strong women separated by many years. One contemporary, Ellie, the other in the 19th century, Teddy. Both have their problems and things to prove in a male orientated world. But the detail, the weaving of the two stories is excellent and thoroughly absorbing. There's honesty from both along with humour and complete humanity. I loved this book. Thank you for the opportunity to read it.... Read Full Review
San Francisco. Two trailblazing women-separated by a century and bound by blood-fighting for their futures.
The Covert Buccaneer is a sweeping dual-timeline women's historical fiction novel that blends legal drama, emotional resilience, and intergenerational mystery into one unforgettable story.
1867-1919: Theodora "Teddy" Ellis defies the expectations of her time. A pioneering miner, suffragist, and real estate developer, she infiltrates male-dominated spaces in disguise, stakes claims in the Klondike, and fights for women's rights and healthcare alongside her Miwok best friend. From escaping the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 to rebuilding San Francisco after the 1906 earthquake and fire, Teddy's life-and her unconventional relationships-challenge the boundaries of her era.
2019-2020: Georgina "Ellie" Benvenuto is a climate migrant attorney and special needs mother in San Francisco. Divorced, exhausted, and walking a fault line to salvage her derailed career while managing unmanageable responsibilities, Ellie discovers Teddy's long-hidden diary upon the death of her grandfather. What begins as a curiosity becomes a lifeline-connecting her to a legacy of reinvention, justice, and a long-forgotten heirloom that holds the key to solving a pivotal legal case.
Rooted in primary source material and real but overlooked histories, The Covert Buccaneer explores the collision of personal, social, and political power through the lenses of climate justice, gender nonconformity, the immigrant experience, caregiver discrimination, and unsung Indigenous voices.
Featuring frontier bull trains, fortune tellers, legal showdowns, women's suffrage, and long-buried family secrets, this richly researched, emotionally resonant novel celebrates identity, resilience, justice, love, friendship, and the legacy of reinvention across generations.
With humor, heart, and a defiant spirit, The Covert Buccaneer asks: What do we owe the women who came before us-and what might we still become if we dare to follow their trail?
The Covert Buccaneer features in the following genres: Books of the Month, General Fiction, Historical Fiction, Fiction
The Covert Buccaneer is available in Paperback, Ebook (Epub)
The Covert Buccaneer was written by S Lucia Kanter St Amour and published by Pactum Factum
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