Readers ask about my novel Beside the Long River

 

1. 1. What’s the novel about? 

In spite of objections from English teenager Sarah Lyman, in 1632 her Puritan family boards the ship Lyon bound for Massachusetts Bay Colony. When the Massachusetts laws prove unbearably harsh, Sarah and her family join Thomas Hooker’s group in settling Hartford, Connecticut. There Sarah befriends two Pequot Indians whose camp is near the English settlement. Fearing the Natives are dangerous, the governor declares war against them and Sarah disguises herself as a boy and joins the soldiers—to try to stop them. 

2. Where did this story originate?  

My father-in-law Steve Parson asked me to help him write a book about his mother’s family history. In research into the early Lymans, I became enthralled with young Sarah Lyman and Steve gave his permission for me to write her story into a novel.

3. How authentic (real) are the characters? 

The Lyman elders, Richard and his wife, are as I wrote them, as are the four children. There was a baby, but I left him out as I couldn’t figure how he contributed to the story. Thomas Hooker, Massachusetts Governor Winthrop, and Captain William Pierce of the ship Lion actually existed, as did Captain John Mason, who led the raid on the Pequot encampment.

4. How much of the story is based on actual events? 

• The Lion sailed from England in June 1632 with the Lymans aboard. 
• A young boy fell overboard on that voyage, which I’ve included in the book. 
• Earlier, English passengers brought small pox to the New World, an outbreak which made its way to Native tribes.
• The Lyman family are listed among the original settlers of Hartford.
• I’ve found no evidence that the Lyman family was involved with the Pequot War, but the massacre did occur in May 1636 under the direction of Captain Mason.

5. Why did you have Sarah Lyman dress as a boy and join the English infantry? 

The massacre of Pequot women and children was so horrendous, I wanted Sarah to see the action firsthand rather than being told about it. Female characters dressing as men in Shakespeare’s plays was common to the period.

6. What about this story drew you to it?

From the time I first read about her, I saw Sarah as a modern badass. She bucked convention and wanted more for herself than a husband and a brood of children. She didn’t marry until she was in her twenties, whereas most girls married in their teens, and she lived nearly to 70, a ripe old age for people of that time.

7. Who is your audience for the story?

Anyone interested in Colonial America, Native American history, or a just a good story of adventure, bloodshed, and love.

8. What gives you the authority to write about Native Americans when you’re white?

As Ken Burns said, “I’m in a business of history and that includes everyone. And I have, throughout my professional life, tried to tell the story of this country in an inclusive way and that means talking about race and trying to tell stories from multiple perspectives… But I do not accept that only people of a particular background can tell certain stories about our past.” 

The character Ayaks is the son of a Dutch trader and a Pequot woman. My first novel, The Black Bonnet, is the POV of a slave girl who discovers her father is the white slaveowner. If we test our DNA, we’ll find we’re all a mixture of races. Why should writers limit ourselves to stories only about white people? 

President Barak Obama says we’ve got to talk about race, to bring it into the daylight. Discussions of race are a disinfectant, he says. We can’t pretend native history doesn’t exist side by side with white history. We need to look at it in order to heal the deep wounds, the indignation, the anger, the pain. I hope in some way Beside the Long River helps to do that.

9. What is the takeaway—what is it you hope your readers will gain from the book?

The 1636 Pequot War in what today in southeast Connecticut was a massacre of six hundred natives justified by the belief that English colonists were destined by God to expand their dominion across North America. The Pequot nation stood in the way of fulfilling that destiny. Few settlers objected and even fewer tried to stop the attack. That persecution and bloodshed continued well into the 19^thcentury, and prejudices against Native Americans continues to this day.

10. Where can readers purchase the book?

Beside the Long River will be released in January 2022 and is available for preorder from Black Rose Writing (https://www.blackrosewriting.com/historicaladventure/besidethelongriver). Also check my website, louellabryant.com. Look for the book this winter from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or wherever books are available online.