History is all too often approached from a mathematical, academic perspective: on this date, this many people did this thing, and that many survived to the next day, when they experienced this event, et cetera, etc., &c.
Here, we take a different approach to history, focusing on the story part of the field, remembering that history affected – and was made by – people. That’s not to say that we play fast and loose with the historical facts, but they are the backdrop against which the stories of our characters are placed.
Come, join us on a voyage to the foreign land of the past, where much is familiar, but much is strange and wonderful. You will emerge from our books with a deeper appreciation for how our forebears lived, and why it matters.
1936
Sean League
Pilots Henry and Maria, reeling from the consequences of Prohibition, are in a world that’s changing faster than they can keep up. Caught in a conflict between the Mob, the U.S. government, Mao’s Communists, China’s Kuomintang, Russia’s Red and White armies, and the Japanese Imperial Army, they must balance their internal struggles with the world’s conflicts going on all around them. Join them in this harrowing epic novel that spans the globe during the great upheaval known as 1936.
Order the hardbound edition from Ingram with ISBN 978-1-942319-27-6, or direct from Brief Candle.
Also available in paperback from Ingram with ISBN 978-1-942319-25-2, or direct from Brief Candle
The Convention: Tales From a Revolution – Massachusetts
Captured at Saratoga, Arthur faces years of marching over the American countryside as a pawn in the diplomats’ struggle over independence… unless he can find a way out for himself!
Order from Ingram with ISBN 978-1-942319-61-0, or direct from Brief Candle
The Will: Tales From a Revolution – Pennsylvania
After the worst night of his life, Isaac doesn’t know if he can save either his marriage or the cause of American Independence. With the British closing in on Philadelphia, he has no time to waste in either attempt!
Order from Ingram with ISBN 978-1-942319-57-3, or direct from Brief Candle
The Siege: Tales From a Revolution – Virginia
Nathaniel gave nearly everything he had to the cause of American liberty, and when he could give no more, he returned home to nurse his wounds and to try to rebuild his life. He could not know that his quiet village would turn out to be the scene of the final major battle of the American Revolution, but when the British arrived, he found himself witnessing history from behind enemy lines.
Order from Ingram with ISBN 978-1-942319-41-2, or direct from Brief Candle
The Mine: Tales From a Revolution – Connecticut
Alec signed up to defend all that his family held dear, but he never expected that his service to King and country would put him under the ground. Locked in an abandoned copper mine with fellow militiamen and a motley crew of hardened criminals, Alec finds himself caught up in a desperate escape plan.
Order from Ingram with ISBN 978-1-942319-37-5, or direct from Brief Candle
The Tree: Tales From a Revolution – New-Hampshire
Abe is suddenly pushed into adulthood by the deaths of both of his parents. With only his eccentric aunt and an even stranger new friendship to guide him, he must navigate the challenges of Crown encroachments on his freedoms and the demands of managing his inheritance.
Order from Ingram with ISBN 978-1-942319-35-1, or direct from Brief Candle
Also available as an audiobook on Audible and iTunes.
The Freedman: Tales From a Revolution – North-Carolina
Calabar was brought from Africa to North-Carolina as a boy and sold on the docks as chattel property to a plantation owner. On the plantation, he learned the intricacies of indigo production, fell in love, and started a family. Abruptly released from bondage, he must find his way in a society that has no place for him, but which is itself struggling with the threat of British domination. Reeling from personal griefs, and drawn into the chaos of the Revolution, Calabar knows that the wrong moves could cost him his freedom–and that of the nation.
Order from Ingram with ISBN 978-1-942319-29-0, or direct from Brief Candle
Also available as an audiobook on Audible and iTunes.
The Path: Tales From a Revolution – Rhode-Island
Yves de Bourganes only wanted to make some money to send to his mother, and perhaps have a taste of adventure. He never expected to become enmeshed in a war between Great Britain and her restive colonies, far from the shores of his birth. When he encounters Amalie, a slave with a difficult past, though, his world is truly turned upside down, and he learns that some paths lead to unexpected destinations.
Order from Ingram with ISBN 978-1-942319-24-5, or direct from Brief Candle
The Darkness: Tales From a Revolution – Maine
George just wants to escape the shadows cast by his brothers, and help his family scrape by under British occupation. Louise is guarding a secret about her father that could cost him his life. When the new American government sends a scientific expedition to observe a total eclipse of the sun, its presence will upend the lives of both young people.
Order from Ingram with ISBN 978-1-942319-18-4, or direct from Brief Candle
The Wind: Tales From a Revolution – West-Florida
Turning to another neglected page in the history of our nation’s foundation, The Wind carries us along in the Spanish sweep through the Gulf Coast, as their energetic Governor of Louisiana attempted to wrest Florida out of the hands of the British, in coordination with the American forces struggling in the better-remembered 13 Colonies.
Order from Ingram with ISBN 978-1-942319-16-0, or direct from Brief Candle
Also available as an audiobook on Audible and iTunes.
The Light: Tales From a Revolution – New-Jersey
Following the struggles of a Quaker family while war is erupting all around them, divisions are opening between them, and there are no easy answers, The Light is filled with rich detail, powerful storytelling and compelling action.
Order from Ingram with ISBN 978-0-9894410-3-2, or direct from Brief Candle
Also available as an audiobook on Audible and iTunes.
The Prize: Tales From a Revolution – Vermont
Hedbor’s debut novel, a story of youth and growth, wisdom and love, is set among the farmers along Vermont’s Lake Champlain, where they have a front-seat view of some of the early chapters of the American Revolution. The Prize describes the origins of a modern-day mythology of a peculiarly-shaped island, and how it may well have become a turning point in the Revolution.
Order from Ingram with ISBN 978-0-9894410-0-1, or direct from Brief Candle
The Smoke: Tales From a Revolution – New-York
Faced with an impossible choice between siding with their old allies among the British, backing the upstart American colonists, or trying to stay neutral, the tribes of the Iroquois Confederation were split asunder. In The Smoke, their forgotten history comes to life in a stunning novel of the American Revolution from an almost entirely unexplored viewpoint.
Order from Ingram with ISBN 978-0-9894410-4-9, or direct from Brief Candle
The Declaration: Tales From a Revolution – South-Carolina
Justin Harris had no particular interest in events beyond his tobacco farm in the uplands of South Carolina. The arrival of British marauders in his community changed all of that, and in a flash, he found himself forced to examine his priorities and declare his allegiances. This richly-imagined novel of the little-known occupation of the Southern Colonies during the Revolution will leave you thinking about what you would do when the impossible became your reality.
Order from Ingram with ISBN 978-0-9894410-6-3, or direct from Brief Candle.
Also available as an audiobook on Audible and iTunes.
The Break: Tales From a Revolution – Nova-Scotia
Susannah Mills is trying to put the pieces of her shattered life back together after she and her father flee their erstwhile neighbors in rebellious Massachusetts.When the American War of Independence visits the safe haven they have found in Nova Scotia, she must rely on her inner strength and help from new friends to keep her skin in one piece.
Order from Ingram with ISBN 978-0-9894410-8-7, or direct from Brief Candle