Matthew’’s Prize

In 17th-century England, young Matthew Loftus yearns to go to sea and embarks on what he expects will be a short voyage. But after he risks his life saving a man who fell overboard, Loftus is himself rescued by a passing Dutch trader that turns out to be a pirate ship, plunging him into a bloody life of pillage and prize money in the Spanish Main.

Marcus Palliser was an American-born, British-based novelist. He gave up a career in corporate PR to work as a freelance writer and sail. In the late 1990’s he spent three years living aboard a small yacht, sailing in the Mediterranean and crossing the Atlantic single-handed. He lived in Truro, Cornwall, near some of the most dramatic sea coasts in the world.