Katherine Howe at Harvard Book Store

Harvard Book Store welcomes KATHERINE HOWE—author of New York Times bestsellers The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane and The House of Velvet and Glass—for a discussion of her new book A True Account: Hannah Masury’s Sojourn Amongst the Pyrates, Written by Herself. She will be joined in conversation by KEVIN BIRMINGHAM— author of the New York Times bestseller The Most Dangerous Book.

About A True Account

In Boston, as the Golden Age of Piracy comes to a bloody close, Hannah Masury – bound out to service at a waterfront inn since childhood – is ready to take her life into her own hands. When a man is hanged for piracy in the town square and whispers of a treasure in the Caribbean spread, Hannah is forced to flee for her life, disguising herself as a cabin boy in the pitiless crew of the notorious pirate Edward "Ned" Low. To earn the freedom to choose a path for herself, Hannah must hunt down the treasure and change the tides.

Meanwhile, professor Marian Beresford pieces Hannah’s story together in 1930, seeing her own lack of freedom reflected back at her as she watches Hannah's transformation. At the center of Hannah Masury’s account, however, lies a centuries-old mystery that Marian is determined to solve, just as Hannah may have been determined to take it to her grave.

A True Account tells the unforgettable story of two women in different worlds, both shattering the rules of their own society and daring to risk everything to go out on their own account.

Praise for A True Account

"A wildly adventurous, swashbuckling tale of pirates, A True Account is a fast-paced, rollicking story with an extraordinary twist. Katherine Howe breathes new life into the Golden Age of Piracy with astuteness and elaborate detail—her characters don’t just come alive but spin off the page. You will love it as much as I did." —Anderson Cooper, New York Times bestselling author of Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty

"This sweeping, ambitious novel secures Katherine Howe’s place as one of today's best historical fiction writers. Combining a fast-paced, rollicking 18th-century story about a female pirate and a 20th-century mystery set in academia, Howe touches on identity, ambition, history, class, and culture. Filled with unexpected twists and turns, A True Account is a wild ride. I loved this book.” —Christina Baker Kline, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Orphan Train and The Exiles

"Hannah Masury’s pirate tale reads like a fever dream, told in a voice so authentic and with such vivid, authoritative detail, it compels belief that this must indeed be a true account. A fiendish twist pulls its strands apart and braids them back together with the burnished patina of real historic discovery. Katherine Howe writes a story that she knows so truly, it must spring from her DNA. A True Account belongs on the shelf beside Treasure Island.” —Peter Nichols, National bestselling author of A Voyage for Madmen

Mask Policy

Masks are encouraged but not required for this event.