L. A. Meyer (1942–2014)

- audiobook - Jacky Faber, formerly of the Royal Navy, is dumped at a girls' boarding school in Boston when it is discovered that she is a girl. She doesn't quite fit in.

This book is the lowest rated in the 8 books of the series (but it's still rated 4.13!), but I thought it was great fun. True, there are no pirates, but boarding school stories are great, and the depiction of Northern US/Southern US/British relations in the very early 1800s is spot on, and Jacky is an awesome character. It's show more like A Great and Terrible Beauty, plus Downton Abbey, plus a Napoleonic Naval adventure, plus Anne of Green Gables, but badass.

Jacky is great because she does whatever the heck she thinks is right. She sees all these stupid rules around her like women have to ride side-saddle, and ladies can't be friends with the serving girls, and women can't show their limbs in public, and she says "screw you, rules!". But she's still fiercely loyal, and kind, and brave. And, most importantly, she knows that she deserves punishment when she breaks the rules. She doesn't hesitate to get in a fight with another "lady in training" who slapped a serving girl, but she fully expects to be whipped for it. Her chivalry and sense of responsibility even extend to her friendships: she fully expects that if she misbehaves, her friends will be mad at her. She always realizes that the pickles she gets into are the result of her own actions, and never blames it on any outside force. I find it extremely refreshing; she's a true hero.

I'm definitely continuing with this series. I'm LOVING them. show less

Katherine Kellgren, I love you! K.K. has to be the greatest audio book narrator ever. Her accents are just right, the portrayals of the various characters are specific and memorable, and the sweet tones of her melodious voice charm the ear. After listening to quite a few of the books she has narrated, I'm ready to officially crown her Queen of the Audio Book.

So, about Bloody Jack. I loved it even though it was way, way darker and more mature than I anticipated. There's gruesome death, show more attempted rape, more gruesome death, murder, attempted murder, and lots of sexual situations. And yet it still manages to seem full of fun. I don't quite know who to recommend it to because it seems a little young for teens, but it's probably too much for most kids under 12. So I suppose its ideal reader is 13 or so and a fan of adventure. show less

A good Bloody Jack book must contain lots of adventure, shenanigans at open sea, exciting escapes from danger, a little bit of romance, some fast-and-loose playing with historical accuracy (all for the sake of a rollicking story!), and, above all, plenty of opportunities to set the book down for a moment and sigh, in every emotion that it can possibly be sighed, "Oh, Jacky, no!"

The last few entries in the series were a bit disappointing on this front, whether due to the lack of time spent show more aboard a ship or too much historicity or even too much uncomfortable racism and ableism. I'm happy to say, however, that Boston Jacky brings the series back to form even as it brings the story back stateside after two years in Australia, Burma, and then Spain.

The first dozen pages are a flurry of sea shanty and meeting people and remembering what all has gone down while Jacky's been away, and Meyer doesn't really let up on the pace until the very end. As might be expected in Boston Jacky, we get a lot of the Boston friends of course, but Higgins and Amy, the usual Jiminy Crickets steering Jacky straight, are unavailable to play their roles. It so happens that instead, Clarissa Worthington Howe gets a story boost to counter Jacky at parts, and I must say that she was completely delightful. Clarissa is absolutely awful and not at all a good person, but she is a wonderful friend-slash-enemy to add to the story, and I adore her.

The plot of the book is a bit erratic, and there are a lot of really short scenes that felt cobbled together, almost like non sequiturs in how they didn't really have much to do with the rest of the book. I thought they were unfortunate, since they also didn’t add to the story or characterization in any way, or else were detrimental to it (as when Jacky, disguised as a boy, provides a ship captain's young daughter her first and decidedly innocent romance). But some of the erratic quality is because the story proceeds at a breakneck pace, hardly stopping to slow down anywhere, and that’s one of the things I really enjoy about this series.

There are a lot of fun things that happen, from Jacky buying a tavern and opening a theatre to sailing down to New Orleans with a bunch of Miss Bodeen's ladies and getting into a bit of trouble. The anachronisms in the form of the "fire insurance men" and sufragettes rallying for a temperance movement in Boston were a little too ahistorical, but made for an exciting (and at times tense) story that would probably not be able to be told otherwise, since they'd take place when Jacky is a good deal older.

The main problem I had with Boston Jacky, though, relates to her dearest Jaimy Fletcher. After he went mad with grief when he thought Jacky had died, Jaimy managed to find his way to Chopstick Charlie, where he was given help to put himself back together. This involved meditation at a monastery and the study of martial arts, so of course when he see him again, Jaimy is now a super ninja type working for Charlie's interests. My friend helped me sum up my feelings on the matter thus: "It’s like making someone a Magical Asian Warrior doesn’t make them a more interesting character and also it is racist."

Furthermore, Jaimy is horrible in this book, jumping to conclusions and blaming Jacky for being friends with other men. He's black with jealousy and anger, truly. He also still dreams of marrying her and having her stay at home and have babies while he goes off and does his thing, whereas Jacky very clearly loves being in control of her own life and able to do as she pleases (this is a plot point!). They are unsuited for each other and most likely carry their love only because they rarely actually spend time together. Luckily, Jaimy's role is mostly sideplot and isn't nearly as interesting as other parts of the book.

One of the positive things about the racism and misogyny wrapped up in Jaimy is that I had a lot of fun hating him and cursing his very presence in the book. That's one thing about the Bloody Jack Adventures: even as I rail against weird anachronisms that don't make sense, or hate on horrible characters and story elements, I enjoy the very act of reading them, and I just love Jacky herself.

I love that Jacky is incredibly squeamish about bullfights, but adores going to the cockfights. She won’t touch a drop of liquor and tends to avoid beer, but she’ll drink wine like anything. She’s faithful and true to her love Jaimy, but has no problems hanging on the arms of or even kissing other men. She loves being the center of attention and giving presents to all her friends, even if it means getting into trouble and going broke. She has no compunctions about getting naked (or nearly so) or doing a bit of bawdy song and dance on the stage, but is totally outraged at the suggestion that she’s not entirely the wholesome type in running a bar…

So I guess this is all to say that I am, once again, looking forward to the next installment in Jacky’s adventures, especially if it's more like Boston Jacky than Mark of the Golden Dragon or Viva Jaquelina! show less

I was saddened last month to see the title of the newest Jacky Faber book. I knew from author interviews that ‘Wild Rover No More: Being the Last Recorded Account of the Life & Times of Jacky Faber’ was the title author L.A. Meyer had chosen for the last book in the series and that it would only be released in the event of his death. A quick Google search confirmed what I feared, that Louis Meyer passed away last summer and that this would indeed be the last L.A. Meyer book published.

If show more you haven’t yet read any of Louis Meyer’s Jacky Faber adventures stop what you are doing and immediately read "Bloody Jack: Being an Account of the Curious Adventures of Mary "Jacky" Faber, Ship's Boy", the first volume of the continuing chronicles of Mary (aka Jacky) Faber, one-time London guttersnipe turned globetrotting sailor lass. These books really should be read in order starting from the beginning. This book often refers to characters introduced in earlier volumes and, while you will still enjoy this final volume, you may miss out on some references by not reading the books in order.

The Bloody Jacky Faber series has been one of my YA guilty pleasures for many years. I opened Jacky's 12th and final adventure with some trepidation knowing there will be no more chronicles of Jacky Faber’s adventures. How would Meyer wrap things up? Which favorite characters would he bring back? Which villains? Better yet, what new adventures would Jacky have and what new characters would she meet? Would she be reconciled with her fiancé, Jamie Fletcher? Finally, would she manage to wriggle out of whatever mess she gets into this time? After having burned through all nine lives (and then some), would the peace she has always craved turn out to be the peace of the grave?

‘Wild Rover No More’ starts out well for Jacky as our heroine returns home to Boston from a successful Caribbean voyage. As always happens in Jacky’s adventured, this peace goes south faster than she can say Faber Shipping Worldwide when authorities discover that the diplomatic pouch she picked up in Havana is not an official diplomatic pouch, but contains incriminating plans to Fort McHenry addressed to Jacky. Smarting from the Benedict Arnold/Major Andre spy scandal, the American authorities are quick to charge Ms. Faber with treason and call for her head. The fast-thinking Faber barely manages to escape but once again finds herself on the run from the law.

In her efforts to evade capture Jackie becomes Annabelle Leigh, governess to a banker’s family which included a Edgar Allen Polk, a self-obsessed brat and aspiring pirate. She also puts her days spent climbing the riggings to good use and does a stint as the renowned Princess Natasha Annasova Romanoff, death defying Queen of the High Wire for the Montessori and Mattucci Grand Circus.

I have now read all of Jacky’s adventures and, while all are entertaining, I have my favorites. I did not find ‘Wild Rover No More’ as compelling as, say, ‘In the Belly of the Beast’ or ‘Mississippi Jack’. That is not because it isn’t good, but is more because Meyer’s need to tie up loose ends limited his ability to take the story wherever he chose. Even so, I did enjoy this final adventure and can now close the book without having to wonder whatever happened to so-and-so.

As much as I have enjoyed the series, Meyer has occasionally let a few minor anachronisms slip past the editors. Although these in no way reduce my enjoyment of the book a few historical errors were found in an advanced reading copy of Wild Rover No More. Although the term ‘high school’ was first used in Scotland in 1505, no high schools opened in North America until the English High School founded in Boston in 1821, 12 years after the events described in this story. In Jacky’s day, educational institutions for children would have been limited to private academies such as the illustrious Lawson Peabody School for Young Girls. Rugby, likewise, was not played under that name until at least 1823 when legend has it that Rugby school player William Webb Ellis first picked up a football and ran with it. Finally, while a Capt. Thomas Blood stole the English crown jewels in 1671, there was no pirate who went by the name of Captain Blood until 1920 when Rafael Sabatini used the name as a character in his books and stories. Sabatini’s Captain Blood was largely based on the life of Irish surgeon Henry Pitman, a surgeon who, like Blood, was arrested and sentenced to death for treating Irish rebels. His sentence was commuted to transportation to Barbados where he escaped and was subsequently captured by pirates. Pitman never became a pirate, though, and was never referred to as ‘Captain Blood’.

In summary, while ‘Wild Rover No More’ may not be L.A. Meyer’s best book, it is a good summation of a great series. It’s sad that there will be no more never be another Account of the Further Adventures of Jacky Faber, there are other good authors out there just waiting for their books to become my next guilty pleasure.

*Quotations are cited from an advanced reading copy and may not be the same as appears in the final published edition. The review book was based on an advanced reading copy obtained at no cost from the publisher in exchange for an unbiased review. While this does take any ‘not worth what I paid for it’ statements out of my review, it otherwise has no impact on the content of my review. show less