There Are Books With Redhead Pirate Queens— but None of Anne Bonny?

I have a confession; I have an obsession with pirates. What started as a simple admiration for the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise grew into an absurd amount of catalogued pirate facts, franchises, and interest in any televised retellings of The Golden Age of Piracy.

Being a bibliophile on top of that, it’s no surprise that my two loves have intersected and found harmony in the form of fictional novels. Among the series including pirate lore and fantastical events, three of them have included a red head leading lady (something I, as a redhead, am quite fond of).

However, despite the presence of fictional redheads in the fantastical realm of books, I have yet to see any fictionalized depictions of one of the notorious pirate queens herself; Anne Bonny.

Books starring a redhead pirate protagonist:

Seafire by Natalie C. Parker 

The current series I am obsessed with. Caledonia Styx and her crew of women among the deck of the Mors Navis still invade my thoughts when reading. The adventure, the shock, the stakes— this series deserves to be doing better than a 3.5 stars on Good Reads. I truly hope that Caledonia Styx serves as a “turning of the tides” for redhead protagonists everywhere; no more of this “fantastical, ethereal” stuff, I’m ready to be represented by vikings and pirates again. 

To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo 

She may not be depicted on the cover, but the description of her “deep copper hair pulled from her star-freckled face, only confirming the fact that she wasn’t capable of lying low” doesn’t leave any room to infer if she joins the redheaded ranks or not. This series has Lira (siren royalty) turned into the one thing she hates the most as a punishment; a human. She ends up a cooperative and helpful pirate among a crew of siren hunters, and of course uses her redheaded siren abilities to help herself out. 

Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller 

As depicted on the cover, the “Daughter of the Pirate King” clearly has red hair. Throughout this series, Losa’s determination and inability to give up or lie low was attributed often to the flame of her red hair. 

Why these characters are Anne Bonny in a slightly different font: 

But despite the differences in these redheaded pirateers, I can’t help but feeling the agonizing tug of awareness that there is a version of these characters that existed in real life; and her name is Anne Bonny. 

1. They’re all equated to being persuasive, or literal sirens. Anne existed during the Golden Age of Piracy and had enough persuasiveness to have ties to all the pirate lords during this time. From Edward Thatch (Black Beard) to Benjamin Hornigold, Anne was present in their discussions, decisions, and even later— a crew. For a woman to call herself a pirate and be able to associate with the big dogs of piracy, one would have to assume that her wit and intellect was noteworthy.

2. The crossdressing—  It’s standard that on a pirate ship women were either bad luck or a bad omen, so oftentimes they had to be disguised as men to be a part of the crew. Anne dressed like a boy all her life, something her father encouraged her to do to get by in the world, something all of these pirate heroines have done or prefer in their own stories. Both Anne and Mary Reade (her discovered pirate sister at sea) preferred male clothes over the female attire of the time; a factual aspect that has made its way into the fictional pirate schema. 

3. Last but noy least… the red hair, obviously it had to be said. It was recorded in Charles Johnsons’ “A History of Pyrates” that Bonny was known for her “red hair” and fiery temper. She is also one of the only recorded female pirates that sailed in Nassau during this time, and it was her red hair that helped in this notoriety. Caledonia, Alosa, and Lira all have the shared characteristic of fiery red hair with a temper to match— I can’t help but wonder if Anne Bonny was the blueprint for the fictionalized redheaded pirate trope.

So what is my point?

It’s clear to me that all of these traits of the miraculous Anne Bonny are desirable in character types, especially those that need to communicate the chaotic nature of their character. Red hair, for some reason, seems to be tied in with whimsical, adventure stories— and that carrier over into the pirate realm as well.

So why hasn’t there been any new-age fiction starring Anne Bonny besides for her depiction in “Black Sails” the incredible Starz original series, and why did “The Lost Kingdom of Pirate History” on Netflix make her a brunette? 

There aren’t any series today that take advantage of the legendary potential that is Anne Bonny! From her young days, to her time in Nassau, to her time aboard The William captained by her partner Jack Rackham, there is so much young-adult protagonist potential to be found in this historical figure. 

But as the saying goes, if you want something done right, do it yourself— I think I might just solve my own inquiry.