The main character is sixteen-year-old Artemesia Fitz-Willoghby Weatherhouse, who is an amnesiac student at the Angels Academy of Young Maidens.
On the afternoon of Christmas Eve, while practising deportment, she tumbles down the stairs and hits her head on the banister, restoring her memories from six years previous – of her life aboard a pirate ship led by her mother, Molly Faith, more commonly known as Piratica, until a misfired cannon caused Molly's death and Artemesia's amnesia.
Her sudden change in behaviour and into men's clothing due to the restoration of her memories convince her teachers and fellow students that she is mad, and she is locked in a room for safety.
She holds by her mother's (stage) code of honour- she steals by guile and trickery, and never takes a life.
[1] Piratica II: Return to Parrot Island is a fantasy novel by Tanith Lee.
Piratica III explores the reason behind Golden Goliath's hatred of Molly and also explains why Art cannot love her child.
When she escapes from the Angels Academy for Young Maidens after the restoration of her memory, Artemesia dresses in boy's clothes and changes her name to "Art Blastside".