Gillian Reads, The Covert Buccaneer - a multi-generational drama, by S. Lucia Kanter St. Amour.
- gillianyoung
- Aug 3
- 4 min read
Today’s review dives into a sweeping, multi-generational drama that had me hooked from the moment I read the blurb. The Covert Buccaneer by S. Lucia Kanter St. Amour is a compelling blend of American history, mystery, and powerful storytelling—everything I love in a novel. With rich historical detail and unforgettable characters, this was one story I simply couldn’t pass up.
Huge thanks to LiterallyPR and S. Lucia Kanter St. Amour for the opportunity to review this remarkable book.
AUTHOR BIO
S. Lucia Kanter St. Amour is an attorney, author, and former vice president of UN Women USA (San Francisco). With over two decades of experience teaching negotiation and mediation—including at UC Law San Francisco, Stanford, and international institutions—she’s a leading global expert in negotiation, especially its impact on women. A Harvard-trained mediator and seasoned legal professional, she’s also a cross-genre author whose bestselling book For the Forces of Good explores the power of everyday negotiation.
Lucia has served in public, private, and nonprofit roles, including shaping employment policy for California’s court system and founding a nonprofit for families raising children with special needs. She’s a podcast host, mother, dog lover, retired tournament golfer, and unapologetic advocate for justice, equity, and inclusion.
BOOK BLURB
San Francisco. Two trailblazing women—separated by a century—fighting for their futures. The Covert Buccaneer is a sweeping, dual-timeline historical fiction, women’s fiction, legal drama, and love story.
1867–1919: Theodora “Teddy” Ellis is anything but ordinary. A pioneering miner, suffragist, and San Francisco real estate developer, she infiltrates male-dominated spaces in disguise, stakes claims in the ruthless Klondike, and fights for women’s rights and healthcare alongside her Miwok best friend. She survives the 1871 Chicago Fire and later helps rebuild San Francisco post-1906 earthquake and fire, reshaping the city’s future. But Teddy’s personal life is as unconventional as her ambitions—her relationships defy expectation, with the truth of her legacy lost to time.
2019–2020: Georgina “Ellie” Benvenuto is a divorced climate migrant attorney and single mother to a child with disabilities, struggling in a low-paying public interest job with a derailed legal career. As she wrestles with impossible personal and professional demands, she discovers her great-great-grandmother’s hidden diaries—revealing uncanny parallels to her own life. A long-forgotten heirloom of Teddy’s holds the key to a pivotal legal case—bringing the past crashing into the present and forcing Ellie to reconsider everything she understood about identity, love, and the cost of reinvention.
For listeners who love multi-generational mysteries woven with family secrets, lost heirlooms, and the weight of inheritance—much like recent bestsellers that blend past and present narratives with a feminist lens, such as The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, The Personal Librarian, and Winter Garden—this novel is a must-listen.
MY REVIEW
What can I say? I absolutely loved this book!
I’m a huge fan of multi-generational fiction—watching how families evolve over time, while certain traits and struggles echo across generations, never fails to captivate me. The Covert Buccaneer delivers all of this and more, weaving together a rich, layered story with fascinating elements of American history.
From the Great Fire of Chicago, to the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment granting women the right to vote, and the injustices faced by Native Americans, this novel offers not only an engaging narrative but a powerful educational journey. Much of the story is rooted in fact, which gives it even greater depth and resonance.
At the heart of the novel are two extraordinary women. In the present day, there's Ellie Benvenuto, a brilliant lawyer who’s treated unfairly by the powerful law firm she worked for. She's a single mother, juggling her demanding career with the challenges of raising two young sons, one of whom has special needs. Ellie stands up fiercely for those who are discriminated against—while facing similar injustices herself.
Then there’s Theodora Mary Ellis —Ellie’s great-great-grandmother. After the death of Ellie’s beloved grandfather Enzo, a collection of Theodora’s diaries comes to light, spanning from 1867 until her death in 1919. Through these pages, we meet a fearless woman who championed women’s rights, spoke her mind, and left behind a hidden legacy in San Francisco’s architecture—not just funding iconic buildings, but designing and building them herself.
Two timelines. Two powerful women. One unforgettable story.
The Covert Buccaneer is a spellbinding read, beautifully entwining drama, historical insight, and the very real struggles many still face today.
Thank you to LiterallyPR and S. Lucia Kanter St. Amour for gifting me a digital version of this book to review. It was a HUGE pleasure!
COMING UP…
12th August.
The Voodoo Series by J. L Hancock.
Book 1 The Hawk Engima
Voodoo Series, Book 1
A mind-bending, relentlessly paced techno-thriller
Every night, Voodoo’s nightmares force him to relive the past until suddenly they start to predict the future. At the same time, across the ocean in Japan, two world-renowned scientists go missing along with the secrets behind something called the “God Algorithm.”
Fans of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, Michael Crichton’s techno-thrillers, or Jack Carr’s James Reece, will love this fast-paced thrill ride that puts you on the front lines of an A.I. arms race.
Can Voodoo find the answers in time? Or will his personal dreams morph into a world of nightmares?
Book 2 The Spear and the Sentinel.
Voodoo Series, Book 2
In the stunning sequel to The Hawk Enigma, Voodoo and his team of special operators are thrust back into the heart of a global conflict. The stakes have never been higher as China’s Belt and Road Initiative pushes into Central Asia, exposing dark ambitions and a secret lab advancing AI warfare.
Set against the vast steppes of Kazakhstan, this story unfolds in the shadow of the former Soviet Union. Tensions rise as Voodoo’s team embarks on a covert mission. New team members add to the friction as more troubles from Voodoo’s past return to the present.
They soon find themselves on the brink of a perilous future the Western world is unwilling to face: a world where AI reigns supreme, and there’s no turning back. Fans of Jack Ryan, Tom Clancy, and Clive Cussler will snatch this thriller and refuse to let go.
Will Voodoo’s team succeed? Or has his luck finally run out?
Until then, Happy Reading!
Comments