Perhaps it was a mistake for me to read this book directly after the outstanding Phebe Fairchild and it suffered by the comparison. Although Ocean-Born Mary was a real person, the details Lenski invented or inserted to make the story interesting didn't always seem plausible. Why did the pirate keep on hanging around where he was a wanted man instead of settling down in safety or at least moving to someplace less law-abiding? It almost led to his downfall, if Mary hadn't arranged to rescue him after she was forced to betray him.The facts of Mary's life are sparse, and some versions of the legend do claim that the pirate had contact with her during her later life, but it was quite an improbable amount of contact in a very short time. And the poor gaoler's daughter. We knew she was sick, and it was nice that Mary gave her the doll, but the fact that she died immediately after letting the pirate out, although awfully convenient for the plot, made me wonder how much the stress of getting up in the night and staging an escape shortened her life. ( )