Another episode of Starz’s Black Sails airs tonight and one of the villains is Anne Bonny.
In the Golden Age of Sail, she was as ruthless and heartless as her male counterparts and in the first episode she stabbed a man with two knives when he approached her. In my new book, A Pirate’s Revenge, I have a demon, Natasa that would put Anne Bonny to shame. Natasa’s idea of a good time was putting men on the rack and stretching them until their limbs threatened to pop out of their sockets. Who says women couldn’t be as evil as a man?
Born in County Cork Ireland, Anne was not a fictional character and lived a colorful life. Her family moved to America and against her father’s wishes, she eloped with James Bonny, a known pirate, but Anne was fickle and left him for Jack ‘Calico Jack’ Rackham, captain of the sloop ship, Revenge. Together they recruited a crew, captured ships, and accumulated a vast amount of treasure. They even had a child together that Anne left in Cuba with friends so she could continue her exploits with Rackham.

However, loyalty to her husband was not one of Anne’s traits. When he was about to be hung in Jamaica, Anne was quoted as saying, “Sorry to see him there, but if he fought like a man, he need not have been hang’d like a dog.”
Of course, Anne escaped the hangman’s noose by claiming her pregnancy. There was no report of her being hanged and some say her father, a plantation owner, rescued her from a deadly end.
Like Anne, loyalty was not one of Natasa’s traits, either. When the God of the Underworld demanded to know why she failed in her mission, Natasa gladly pointed her finger at the demon she loved. True or false, she had no intention of being thrown into a freezing demon hole for centuries.
In Starz’s Black Sails, rather than having her own ship, along with Rackham, Anne is a member of Captain Charles Vane’s crew. Since loyalty is not one of Anne’s qualities, will Vane still command his own ship or will Anne slit his throat so she and Rackham can rule the sea together?