Books 5 and 6 from my 20 Books of Summer

Two books featuring troubled young women from my 20 Books of Summer:

The Fifth of March by Ann Rinaldi (1993)

Rachel Marsh is an indentured servant to John and Abigail Adams, minding their children and becoming involved in the events leading up to and following the Boston Massacre on the Fifth of March in 1770.

I’m Deborah Sampson by Patricia Clapp

Title: I’m Deborah Sampson
Author: Patricia Clapp
Publication: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Co., hardcover, 1977
Genre: Juvenile historical fiction
Setting: 18th century Massachusetts and New York

Description: In this historical novel about Deborah Sampson, the Massachusetts native who famously disguised herself as a man to fight in the Revolutionary War, Clapp provides a convincing background for Sampson’s decision to enlist and her ability to carry out such an improbable undertaking.

The Reb and the Redcoats by Constance Savery (an American rebel in England)

Title: The Reb and the Redcoats
Author: Constance Savery
Publication: Bethlehem Books, paperback, 1999 (originally published in 1961)
Genre: Juvenile historical
Setting: 18th century England

Description: The Reb is young Randal Everard Baltimore, an American prisoner of war, who encounters the Redcoats, the four Darringtons, children of a British officer fighting in the War of American Independence.

The Patriots: Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and the Making of America by Winston Groom

Title: The Patriots: Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and the Making of America
Author: Winston Groom
Publication: National Geographic, hardcover, 2020
Genre: History

Description: When the Revolutionary War ended in victory, there remained a stupendous problem: establishing a workable democratic government in the vast, newly created country. . .

Six Degrees of Separation - From How to Do Nothing to A Tale of Two Cities

It’s time for #6degrees, inspired by Kate at Books Are My Favourite and Best. We all start at the same place as other readers, add six books, and see where each ends up.   This month’s starting point is How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy by Jenny Odell (2019), praised by the New York Times as “[a]n eloquent argument against the cult of efficiency . . . I felt both consoled and invigorated by it.”  It is rare I completely miss hearing about an NYT bestseller but this is not the type of nonfiction I read.

Patriot Hearts by Barbara Hambly

Title: Patriot Hearts

Author: Barbara Hambly

Publication: Bantam Books, trade paper, 2008

Genre: Historical Fiction

TBR Challenge:  This is the first book I have read from my 2019 TBR Pile Challenge, sponsored by Roof Beam Reader.  Mind you, my house is one large pile of books waiting to be read, but I selected just a handful!

Plot: This is the story of four women important to the early history of America: Martha Washington, Abigail Adams, and Dolley Madison, wives to three presidents, and Sally Hemings, the slave who bore Thomas Jefferson several children.  Told partly in flashbacks as the British march on the White House during the War of 1812, Hambly convincingly portrays the Founding Mothers with fictionalized vignettes that show their relationships with their spouses, historical figures of the day and, occasionally, with each other.

10 Books for the Hamilton-Obsessed

It’s the Ten Duel Book Commandments - what to read if you’re obsessed with Hamilton!

Believe me, I understand your fixation. You love Hamilton whether you’ve actually seen it or just listened repeatedly to the cast recording. You’ve never been to NYC but you’ve seen every Ham4Ham on YouTube. You follow Lin-Manuel on Twitter and practically watched him cut his hair. I was very lucky that my younger sister bought tickets and took most of the family to see Hamilton in November 2015, and that we have had each other to share our Lin obsession in the months since – quoting and capping our favorite lines, listening to the music in the house or in the car, speculating on what we would say to him or how we can get our copy of the book signed (I carried it to NYC on my last trip, planning to go hang out at the stage door, but my sister informed me knowledgeably that Lin’s wrist was hurt). We all clearly need something new to read, to distract us from the fact that Lin, Leslie and Philippa have left the cast. . .

The Turncoat (Book Review)

Title: The Turncoat; Book One, Renegades of the Revolution
Author: Donna Thorland
Publication Information: NAL Trade Paperback, 2013
Genre: Historical Fiction, first in a series

Plot: 1977. Modest Kate Grey, a New Jersey Quaker who lives with her father and favors the Patriot cause, is confronted with the realities of war when her father joins General Washington and, hours later, Peter Tremayne, a British officer, and Redcoat soldiers invade her home. Kate is so mesmerized by the handsome stranger she is ready to throw virtue to the winds and while she bandies words with Peter, a mysterious widow, who turns out to be an accomplished spy, steals his papers (he is later court-martialed as a result). Peter and his men then flee from Rebel troops; the widow flees from his retribution to Washington, dragging Kate with her. When Kate, knowledgeable about military strategy from long talks with her father, realizes that Washington needs information about the British from General Howe, she offers to infiltrate Philadelphia Tory society and send secret reports back to help win the war. She does not expect to encounter Major Tremayne again, now that they are emphatically on opposing sides, but you won't be surprised to hear that he has survived his disgrace...

(I am afraid the Quakers are shaking their heads over the Grey family: the father is fighting with the Colonists and Kate gains a scandalous if mostly undeserved reputation.)

Poldark

I began watching the Poldark miniseries on Masterpiece Theatre with my mother, who had read the books, then I quickly got the first in the series from the library. It was originally called The Renegade, but the title was changed to Ross Poldark after the series became an event, first in the UK and then in the US. Like many others, we were glued to our television on Sundays at 9 for weeks. Robin Ellis, who played Ross Poldark, became a sensation and was even called the sexiest man on British Television. Hailed as a British Gone with the Wind, it is one of the best adaptations I ever saw because of the dramatic story line, the fact that it did not deviate too much from the books, and the actors were incredibly well chosen for their parts.

In brief, it is the story of Ross Poldark, coming home to Cornwall from fighting in the War of American Independence, tired and injured. When he returns, he learns that his father is dead, his estates are virtually bankrupt, his fiancee believed him dead and is now engaged to another. Born into a family of good lineage, if not riches, Ross is part of the landed gentry of Cornwall but has a compassion for those less fortunate that constantly gets him in trouble with his peers. It is one such impulse that causes him to rescue an urchin from a group of bullies; when he realizes it is a girl, he agrees to hire her as a servant.

I remember at this moment saying to my mother, "Julian and Tibby!" a reference to Dawn's Early Light, book one in perhaps my all time favorite series, Elswyth Thane's Williamsburg Novels, and she protested, "No!" in horror because she loves those books so much but there are some similarities. Both Julian and Ross fight in the Revolutionary War, and are very much influenced by the ideals of liberty and equality for men: Julian in the years after his arrival in Williamsburg from England in 1774 and Ross upon returning to Cornwall from the Colonies, both men in love with beautiful women from the upper levels of society, both men poor but determined to survive (Ross is much less law abiding than Julian), and both take an initially paternal interest in a teenage girl from impoverished family.

Indeed, I hope I have persuaded you to try the Poldark novels or the DVDs, and I have now convinced myself I need to own and reread the entire series! Other Winston Graham novels were made into movies and are also worth hunting down - notably Marnie (Hitchcock) and The Walking Stick (a compelling but sad book).