Book description
Plymouth 1570; Ellyn Cooksley fears for her elderly father's health
when he declares his intention to sail with Drake on an expedition he
has been backing. Already yearning for escape from the loveless
marriage planned for her, Ellyn boards the expedition ship as a
stowaway.
Also aboard the Swan is Will Doonan, Ellyn's charming but socially
inferior neighbour. Will has courted Ellyn playfully without any real
hope of winning her, but when she is discovered aboard ship, dressed
in the garb of a cabin boy, he is furious.
To Will's mind, Drake's secret plot to attack the Spanish bullion
supply in the New World is a means to the kind of wealth with which he
might win a girl like Ellyn, but first and foremost it is an
opportunity to avenge his brother Kit, taken hostage and likely
tortured to death by the Spanish. For the sake of the mission he
supports Drake's plan to abandon Ellyn and her father on an island in
the Caribbean until their mission is completed. But will love prove
more important than revenge or gold?
Mistress of the Sea is an epic romantic adventure set against
the backdrop of Francis Drake's first great enterprise - the attack
on the Spanish 'Silver Train' on the isthmus of Panama
Jenny Barden has had a love of history and adventure ever since an
encounter in infancy with a suit of armour at Tamworth Castle.
Training as an artist, followed by a career as a city solicitor, did
little to help displace her early dream of becoming a knight. Impelled
by a fascination with the Age of Discovery, she has travelled widely
in South and Central America, and much of the inspiration for
Mistress of the Sea came from retracing the footsteps of
Francis Drake in Panama.
Jenny has four children and lives in Hertfordshire with her long
suffering husband, a loving Labrador and a deadly Bengal cat. More
about Jenny can be found at www. jennybarden. com
