I've thoroughly enjoyed reading Sally Gunning's The Rebellion of Jane Clarke, her most recent foray into Colonial-era America. Two years ago I read, Bound, a novel about an indentured servant, which was at times heart-wrenching yet gripping. Although an equally tumultuous Boston forms the backdrop of The Rebellion of Jane Clarke, this is in many ways a gentler read as it follows the inner turmoils of a young woman who must balance loyalty to family, a family divided by political allegiances, with a conscious burdened by moral expediencies. After reading Bound I had every intention of going back and reading Gunning's first novel, The Widow's War. Unsurprisingly I was distracted and two years later it is still sitting unread, but I've already pulled it off the shelf once again and will be rectifying the situation soon.
Although each novel has a distinct and separate story, some of the same characters are interwoven and all books are set in Boston and Satucket, Cape Cod, so there is a familiarity of time and place. Twenty-two year old Jane Clarke is living with her family in Satucket in 1769 leading a simple but happy life. The eldest daughter of a brood of children, mostly step-brothers and sisters, she tends to her father's wishes and gets on reasonably well with her stepmother, Mehitable. In her free time she works with the village midwife nursing the sick and learning to mix poultices and brew decoctions in exchange for an ointment or tincture for her stepmother, who always seems to be ailing.
While Satucket seems a sleepy enough village, so near the coast yet far away from the problems of any larger city, it is not without its own troubles. Jane's father is a successful mill owner, but are his business practices just savviness or shady dealings. Jane wonders as she encounters gossip over something rather unsavory her father may have done. Who's to be believed and who can she possibly ask? An ongoing feud between her father and another mill owner results in constant court cases over real and imagined transgressions, which colors the way the other residents of the village look upon the family. Jane's father is a staunch loyalist to British Crown, but so many niggling uncertainties mean Jane begins questioning her father's beliefs and practices and her own response to them.
When Jane refuses the marriage proposal of Phinnie Paine, the man chosen by her father as not only her future husband but as partner in the mill, Jane is sent off to Boston in disgrace to nurse her ailing aunt instead. Phinnie Paine was an agreeable man, but "she was no longer quite so willing to take the unknown parts of Phinnie on trust as she might have a month ago." As a matter of fact she is not so willing to take on trust many things she hears anymore. When in Satucket the newspapers from Boston were filled with harrowing stories of crimes the British troops committed against the citizens of Boston. Once in Boston Jane can see for herself what is real and what is embellishment, and hopefully she can once again have proper contact with her beloved yet inconsistent brother who is clerking with lawyer John Adams.
Aunt Gill is a trial. She lives alone in a household served by a housekeeper/cook and a former slave, whose work ethics Jane comes to question. Aunt Gill can do little by herself and requires help in dressing and moving from room to room. Though she doesn't require much real nursing, Jane finds she is needed by her aunt and over time she comes to see the old lady less as a burden, and as someone who needs not only her care but deserves her concern. So Jane makes a life for herself of sorts on Royal Exchange Lane not far away from the Custom House outside which stands a British sentry keeping watch. And now Jane can see for herself first hand just which crimes the British military are guilty of and how much is made up to rouse the colonists. In Boston Jane is able to do as she pleases as long as she has her aunt's approval and is befriended by bookshop owner, Henry Knox, who helps open her eyes to the political situation.
Gunning's stories seem to be centered around some historical fact or event, and in the case of The Rebellion of Jane Clarke, the Boston Massacre of March 5, 1770 is the pivotal moment in Jane's life, where she must seek truth over the fervor of the rebels who wish to finally break away from British rule. Sympathetic to the soldiers who must maintain control without stirring up the populace, Jane finds it is often the populace who are trying to stir up conflict to set fire to their rebellion. But nothing is ever black and white, both sides are are guilty of crimes, and she must determine where the truth really lies.
What was both a little surprising yet also refreshing in a tale of Colonial America is Jane begins her journey as the daughter of a loyalist, and while she questions what she sees, she also looks for real truths no matter that they fly in the face of popular thinking. Although the Revolutionary War is still some five years away it's easy to see the conviction with which the average person lives their life and what they're willing to do to acquire freedom and self-rule. Yet this burning desire is also tempered with a wish, particularly by people like Patriot John Adams who would rather see justice served even at a cost to their cause rather than sully it with lies. For Jane, these revelations serve her not only in matters of the conscience but also of the heart.
This is a richly told tale and Jane is a likable heroine who is faced with difficulties she must work her way through. Gunning does an excellent job of setting the right tone and pace of the story, following the inner workings of Jane's mind as she comes to realize just how her life should be lived, yet never falling into the trap of bestowing upon an 18th-century woman the sensibilities of a modern one. Lyddie and Eben Freeman are the characters who link Gunning's three books. In this case they are Jane's grandparents and who become models for Jane and aid in the choices she must make. I'm not ready to leave Colonial America and am glad that I still have one of Sally Gunning's books still to read. I may have to see what else I have on my list to choose from. You can read more about the author here.