Meyer, L.A. Curse of the Blue Tattoo; being an account of the misadventures of Jacky Faber, midshipman and fine lady.MEYER, L.A. Curse of the Blue Tattoo The Curse of the Blue Tattoo is a historical novel by L.A. Meyer. It continues the story of orphaned London girl, Jacky, in the early 1800s. The story began in Bloody Jack, and continues in Under the Jolly Roger and the recently released ; being an account of the misadventures of Jacky Faber, midshipman midshipman: see toadfish. and fine lady. (A Bloody Jack Adventure). Harcourt. 488p. c2004. 0-15-205115-5. $17.00. JS* Nearly 500 more pages of Jacky Faber (aka Bloody Jack) adventures! And at the end of this saga, she is heading off in a new direction, which looks like a promise of at least one more book to come. The time is the end of the 18th century, America is a new country, and Jacky is sent to a school in Boston to become a fine lady (with her share of the pirates' treasure from book one, Bloody Jack, reviewed in KLIATT in September 2002). She is smart, so the studies aren't so hard; in fact, she really loves painting class and music lessons, but the rigid discipline is so confining, Jacky starts sneaking out, sometimes disguised as a boy. The action is fast and furious and the pranks Jacky dreams up are astounding a·stound tr.v. a·stound·ed, a·stound·ing, a·stounds To astonish and bewilder. See Synonyms at surprise. [From Middle English astoned, past participle of astonen, . She is pursued by a grandson of the Puritan minister Cotton Mather This article is about the 17th century Puritan minister. For the rock band, see Cotton Mather (band). Cotton Mather (February 12, 1663 – February 13, 1728). A.B. 1678 (Harvard College), A.M. , who already has murdered one girl, accusing her of being a witch. She learns to ride a horse, becoming an expert; one of the major scenes is when she takes over for a jockey who is ill, pretending to be him, and wins a race to save her friend's family from financial ruin. She earns money by playing, singing, and dancing in local pubs near the harbor, without the school knowing, of course. Her antics frequently get her into trouble, and she bemoans her impulsiveness im·pul·sive adj. 1. Inclined to act on impulse rather than thought. 2. Motivated by or resulting from impulse: such impulsive acts as hugging strangers; impulsive generosity. but recovers quickly to start anew. The author lives "with his wife in a small fishing village on the coast of Maine." He seems to love the sea, ships, and harbors--with a believable be·liev·a·ble adj. Capable of eliciting belief or trust. See Synonyms at plausible. be·liev  a·bil re-creation of life in Boston just after the Revolution. His skill at dreaming up Jacky's escapades is remarkable--one may wonder what adventures he got up to as an adolescent! The action makes for exciting reading, of course, but equally appealing are Jacky's loyalties--she still pines for the young man she fell in love with in the previous book even though Jaimy is at sea with the British Navy, and she makes new friends wherever she is, whether among the rich girls or the servants. Best of all, the humor humor, according to ancient theory, any of four bodily fluids that determined man's health and temperament. Hippocrates postulated that an imbalance among the humors (blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile) resulted in pain and disease, and that good health was and wit make this book a treasure. Claire Rosser, KLIATT
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