Pirate queens

Swashbuckling outlaws Anne Bonny and Mary Read are finally taking their rightful place in pirate history. Immortalised in sculpture, they are now looking for a shorebound home, says Rosanna Morris

Two mysterious figures stand proud, heads held high and looking out to the horizon, one with hair flowing in the wind, the other composed and grounded; undefined and inseparable, shoulders and hips touching. The overall effect of this two-metre-high sculpture speaks of strength and unity, of independence and an unshakeable bond.

Artist Amanda Cotton's artwork Inexorable celebrates the rebellious lives of two remarkable women, Anne Bonny and Mary Read, who became infamous pirates together in the Caribbean in 1720.

"I represented them as metaphors- earth and fire," says Amanda. "Anne was fiery and acted impulsively. Mary was calm and calculated.

Their appearances were different, too, and aligned with their personalities." While Anne and Mary were the most exceptional pirates of the Golden Age of Piracy between 1670 and 1730, their names had, until recently, been eclipsed by their male contemporaries, such as Blackbeard and Bartholomew Roberts. However, in the past couple of years, there has been a surge in interest in them. Audible produced the audio drama Hell Cats based on their story, in 2020; in 2021, author Kate Castle published a novella

Born of the Sea, and the docu-drama The Lost Pirate Kingdom, released on Netflix, also featured Anne's character.

Then, this spring, Rebecca Simon, a historian of early modern piracy, published her book Pirate Queens, the first full-length biography of Anne Bonny and Mary Read.