Tuesday, July 26, 2022

"The Black Swan" by Rafael Sabatini

I adore the 1942 movie The Black Swan, which is supposedly based on this book.  I'd heard that the book is quite different from the movie, so I've avoided reading it for years because I was afraid that I was going to be disappointed by it.  

Well, that was silly.  The book is ENTIRELY different from the movie, except that it involves Captain Henry Morgan, Tom Leach, and another pirate who pretends a lady is his wife in order to keep her safe.  Those are literally the only similarities.  Which was awesome, because that allowed me to enjoy this book for its own sake.  I'm so glad a couple friends on Bookstagram convinced me to try this book after all.

This book is about a French pirate who protects a young lady by pretending she's his wife when they both run into the dastardly pirate Tom Leach.  The bulk of the book takes place on an island, and there's lots of awesome swordplay, and there's one short sea battle between ships, too.  This is not a deep or weighty book -- it is unashamed of being a rollicking good time, and I am eager to read more of Sabatini's books now too!

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: PG-13 for some innuendo, mild violence, and a smattering of old-fashioned curse words.


This has been my 47th book read and reviewed for my third Classics Club list and my 38th book read off my TBR shelves for #TheUnreadShelfProject2022.

2 comments:

  1. I have a couple of his books on my Kindle that I have never gotten around to reading. Pirates and swordplay are very tempting. I might have to remedy that.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jennifer, I definitely enjoyed his style. I have 3 of his other books on my TBR shelves, and I hope to read another yet this summer :-)

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