Hearts of Oak

What does a sea captain’s wife do when her husband dies in a foreign port and the crew abandons ship?

Hire a new crew, of course. But what if she can only find women? It’s 1854, and female sailors are unfathomable in social norms, even in rough-and-tumble Australia.

Does that stop Alice Packard from trying? Not a chance. But can she give 18 women a crash course on sailing in time to escape the cutthroat men determined not to let them leave Melbourne’s harbor?

Even if they do clear the breakwater, the green crew will face all the dangers of the open sea….

Co-written by award-winning author Susan Page Davis.