The Covert Buccaneer

EDITOR'S PICK (BOOKLIFE, PUBLISHERS WEEKLY)

RECOMMENDED ON KIRKUS REVIEWS FICTION ALONGSIDE THE NIGHTINGALE AND THE WOMEN

FEATURED IN THE TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT

The Covert Buccaneer is a dual-timeline women's historical fiction family saga and legal drama set in San Francisco, linking two extraordinary women separated by a century.

With a diary beginning in 1867 at age thirteen, Theodora "Teddy" Ellis defies gender norms as a miner, suffragist, and real estate pioneer. Over a hundred years later, climate migrant attorney and special needs mother Georgina "Ellie" Benvenuto discovers Teddy's long-hidden diary--along with an heirloom that might change everything.

From escaping the Great Chicago Fire, to prospecting in the untamed Alaska wilderness, to rebuilding post-earthquake San Francisco--Teddy's covert past helps Ellie navigate her own fault lines.

Blending real legal cases, emotional resilience, intergenerational mystery, and unconventional love stories, this richly researched novel based on real people and events explores climate justice, gender nonconformity, caregiver discrimination, the immigrant experience, and unsung Indigenous voices.

The Covert Buccaneer is a celebration of resilience, legacy, and what we might become when we dare to follow the women who came before us.