Commissioning Editor Craig Lye has acquired UK & Commonwealth (excluding Canada) rights to a new historical novel, The Braver Thing by Clifford Jackman, from Carolyn Forde at the Transatlantic Agency in a one-book deal.
The sun is setting on the Golden Age of Piracy. All the pirate greats – Blackbeard, Bonnet, Rackham, Vane – are either dead or fled, leaving their former crews to wrestle with the new trappings of civilisation in the Caribbean. So when Jimmy Kavanagh, Taosieach of the Saoirse, proposes one last pirating cruise in an ocean of soft targets, the ship is vastly oversubscribed.
The crew enjoy early success, but when Jimmy suddenly takes ill, they must elect a new captain. With a hold full of treasure and a ship full of opinions, this is harder than it seems. As friend turns on friend, and mutiny, show trials and executions become the order of the day, the crew quickly realises they might be their own worst enemies…
Clifford Jackman is a Canadian novelist. His first novel, The Winter Family, has been nominated for the Scotiabank Giller Prize (the Canadian version of the Man Booker Prize) and the Governor General’s Literary Award for Fiction, and been translated into French and German. He lives in Guelph, Canada, with his wife and his two sons. Follow him on Twitter @cliffjackman.
Craig Lye says: ‘Clifford Jackman has written the sort of pirate story I’ve been hunting for for years, a tale that perfectly combines swashbuckling action with the dream of unfettered freedom that haunted all pirates, eloquently capturing the tensions and fears of both crew and captain. I am delighted to welcome him to Canelo. Now, where’s the rum?’
Clifford Jackman says: ‘I am excited to be published in the UK for the first time and I really admire the innovation and passion that Canelo brings to the table.’
Carolyn Forde says: ‘We are so delighted that Clifford’s swashbuckling tale will now be available to UK readers.’
The Braver Thing will be published as an ebook on 21 June 2021.