by Elaine Marie Cooper
Researching for a historical novel set in Colonial America is
both daunting and fun. Daunting because you don’t want a knowledgeable reader
saying, “Aha! That isn’t accurate!” Fun because seeing how the people lived so
long ago is both amazing and, at times, frightening (think: Colonial medicine).
And then there are the moments that bring a pause with a
sigh, when a researcher longs for the simpler times. When you envision dinner
by candlelight—every night—a warm fireplace to warm your toes, and the faith
cradled in prayer that seemed so much stronger then. God was looked upon as the
Great Defender. Along with a musket and gunpowder. :)
There is something even more inspiring to me, personally,
when I tread on the ground where my great grandfathers trod—literally. Such was
the case last May when my husband and I visited Saratoga National Historic Park. It was the location of the turning point in
the American Revolution that led to the colonists winning freedom from England.
It was also the turning point in my lineage. One of the
British soldiers escaped after the surrender. He met and married my fourth
great grandmother in western Massachusetts where they settled and raised a
family.
While visiting this National Monument, small seeds of a
novel began growing in my mind. It slowly took root in the next days and weeks
until the blooms of characters and dialogue were ready to burst from the fields
in my head. I knew the novel was ready for harvest, and the writing has now
begun.
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| View near Freeman's Farm |
My focus on this current historical fiction is not my grandfather
nor solely about the men who fought in the battle. It is mostly about the many people
who were caught in its web of weariness, destruction and pain. There were not
just soldiers who fought; there were women who nursed the wounded, washed the
clothes, raised their children and tried to survive the war just like the men
did. There were surgeons, surgeon’s
mates, cooks—an entire entourage of individuals functioning as a transient city
run by a military general responsible for the success or failure of the mission.
There are several nonfiction titles that cover the details
about this campaign. My favorite is simply entitled “Saratoga” by Richard
Ketchum. The battle took place in September and October of 1777, and the
British hoped to divide the New England colonies from the rest of Colonial
America. The endeavor was a miserable failure, partly due to English pride. It
was assumed that a band of farmers couldn’t possibly win a war against the
best-trained army in the world.
There were some who did not underestimate the abilities of
the Continental Army however. The much loved Baroness Riedesel , wife of the
German general fighting with the British, was far more astute in her
observations of the Americans:
“The thought of fighting for their country and for freedom
made them braver than ever.”
So this author reads books, double-checks facts and sits at
her laptop creating characters that I love or hate (or sometimes both). I hope
and pray that my readers love them as well. Mostly I hope and pray that my
writing is pleasing to the One who created the craft of writing and planted the
passion for it in my heart.
