Review of Beyond Beauport

Beyond Beauport by James Masciarelli

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Shannon Clarke – forty-six, separated, and a mother with grown children – finds herself at loose ends after staging a mischievous and unauthorized boarding of a vessel with three friends during the 2012 Labor Day Weekend Gloucester Schooner Festival. She and her family have lived and endured in this coastal Massachusetts town for three generations, and her life promises more of the same drudgery once the visitors return home for another fall and winter. Only a mysterious phone call from her beloved, but rarely seen, Uncle Patrick promises any excitement, but even she is astonished with the news he shares.

It turns out that she is descended from the legendary Anne Bonny and Calico Jack Rackham. While most would be skeptical, Shannon easily comes to terms with the possibility. After all, her dysfunctional relatives include “murderers, thieves, drug addicts, child beaters, gun runners, smugglers and outlaws. Why not pirates?” (17) In addition to this information, Patrick presents her with Anne’s short sword which has been passed down from mother to daughter for eleven generations. Except Shannon’s mother appropriated it for herself; Patrick stole it back and kept it until the time was right to present it to Shannon.

What happened to Anne after her conviction has long been a mystery. She simply vanished from the historical record. But Patrick recounts how she disappeared and lived to die of old age under another name. He also shares information about the possibility that together he and Shannon may be able to recover treasure that Anne and Jack buried centuries ago. They have no map, but Anne did leave clues. Although a long shot at best, Patrick and Shannon set off on an adventure that takes them to Florida, the Caribbean, and South Carolina. Along the way Shannon learns to become a master sailor aboard her uncle’s replica brigantine and meets a cousin she never knew existed. They also cross paths with human traffickers, the FBI, and an informant.

Beyond Beauport is a well-spun tale of a Gloucester woman who must come to terms, as we all do, with her past and her family. Along the way, we are introduced to some piratical history and two New Englanders, Captain Jonathan Haraden and Sailing Master Nathaniel Haraden – brave and daring men who left their mark on seafaring history during the early days of the American republic. There are a few scenes, such as the bar in South Florida, that might rub some readers the wrong way, but the story is portrayed both realistically and believably. One weakness is the lack of tension. Only once and briefly will readers feel as if Shannon and Patrick are truly in danger. What Masciarelli achieves best is paying homage to Gloucester women: rugged independence, deep connections to family, and resourceful pragmatism. In Shannon, readers witness all of this and much more as she comes to terms with who she is, the legacy she’s been left, and the abuse and abandonment she has suffered.




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