Pirates of the Caribbean in Frank Yerby's The Golden Hawk

Abstract

This essay argues that Frank Yerby’s 1948 costume drama, The Golden Hawk, offers a prime example of a transnational/circumCaribbean novel. Concurrently, however, it is also a carefully researched historical novel, one that builds on the formulas of both the romance and the adventure tale, while mining the then-current popularity of the pirate novel and film. Issues of race, gender, and nation figure prominently in this critique, as well as histories of Haiti, Columbia, and Caribbean piracy.