Jeremiah Martin: A Revolutionary War Novel

At the beginning of this enjoyable historical adventure, the title character, son of Virginia gentry, has fled his cruel stepfather to board with a Pennsylvania frontiersman and his family. When the first shots of the American Revolution are fired at Lexington, Mass., Martin is a Yankee peddler; resourcefulness leads him across enemy lines to British-held Boston, and soon he is a double-agent serving not only the colonies but also Sir Francis Bolton, a Barbados businessman who will play an important role in his life. Resenting Bolton's yoke, he seizes a ship belonging to Sir Francis and makes a mortal enemy of its captain, Atticus Fitzgerald. Martin witnesses the Battles of Bunker Hill and Germantown on land, fights his own battles as a privateer at sea, and travels to Boston, Philadelphia, the Caribbean and Europe, always shadowed by a secret in his and Sir Francis's past. Approximating the language and writing style of the period, Fowler ( The Spoils of Eden ) has turned out a fine old-fashioned hero's tale of American life during the Revolutionary War. (October)