“To divorce the history of slavery from these narratives is a disservice to us, to our history, to our understanding of the world.”
-Vanessa Riley
Inspired by the true story of Jacquotte Delahaye—a 17th-century free woman of color who rose to become one of the most feared pirates in the Caribbean—FIRE SWORD AND SEA (HarperCollins 2026) follows a woman who defies the rigid conventions of her time to command the high seas —an unforgettable, gender-bending adventure on the cusp of the Golden Age of Piracy.
Jacquotte discovers that secret identities are common in the chaotic world of seafaring. She forms a deep bond with Bahati, an African-born woman who has escaped slavery and disguises herself as a man to navigate the world. As Jacques, Jacquotte falls in love with Lizzôa d’Erville, a beautiful courtesan who deals in secrets and sex.
LISTEN
In this episode, recorded during Women’s History Month, Lissa talks with author Vanessa Riley about her latest historical novel. Riley—whose works have received high praise from New York Times, NPR, Washington Post, and Entertainment Weekly, among others—pushes historical fiction into bold new territory. She reveals the often-erased stories of Black, Indigenous, and women pirates, weaving in diverse communities of gender expression, sexuality, class, and race too often silenced in traditional narratives.
In addition to being a novelist, Vanessa Riley holds a doctorate in mechanical engineering from Stanford University and both a BS and MS in mechanical engineering from Penn State.
GO DEEPER
Vanessa says “We need to know Dorothy Kerwin Thomas, one of the legendary entrepreneurs rising to power from slave enslavement to one of the wealthiest women in Caribbean history. We need to know about Queen Louise, the only Black queen in the Western hemisphere. We need to know Grand Toya, who taught Jean Jacque Desalins, how to fight.”
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READ
QUEEN OF EXILES features Marie-Louise Christophe, wife and then widow of Henry I, who ruled over the newly liberated Kingdom of Hayti in the wake of the brutal Haitian Revolution and is the tale of a remarkable Black woman of history—a canny and bold survivor who chooses the fire and ideals of political struggle, and then is forced to rebuild her life on her own terms, forever a queen.
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Born into slavery on the tiny Caribbean island of Montserrat, Doll bought her freedom—and that of her sister and her mother—from her Irish planter father and built a legacy of wealth and power as an entrepreneur, merchant, hotelier, and planter that extended from the marketplaces and sugar plantations of Dominica and Barbados to a glittering luxury hotel in Demerara on the South American continent.
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LISSA says: “It’s deeply profound to me that Jacquotte was saying, “I have possession of myself. ” And that’s what you’re saying, that we have rights. To have ownership and agency over our own selves. Elizabeth Alexander at the Memorial for Peace and Justice said, “Black people have yet to breathe free air in this country.” We have yet to breathe free air.
What is Vanessa Riley reading?
ENJOY!
Black Market Reads is a product of The Givens Foundation for African American Literature produced in partnership with iDream.tv. Our production team for this episode includes co-producers Lissa Jones and Edie French, technical director Paul Auguston, the voice Yo Derek, and our artist of inspiration Ta-coumba T. Aiken.