'Lydia Bailey' by Kenneth Roberts (1947)

Lydia Bailey is the name of the fictional heroine of this later novel by Kenneth Roberts. The time period is 1798 to 1805, and encompasses several major events in US history. The same cautionary note applies to this novel as to Roberts' previous works - that is, his fictionalized historical character portrayals are very black-and-white, either much more heroic or villainous than they could possibly have been in real life. Also, government officials in general tend to be small-minded, conniving, dishonest and cowardly, among other faults. Their actions continually frustrate the patriotic and altruistic designs of Roberts' noble heroes. Given that large grain of salt, Roberts invented a clever and exciting plot that takes fictional hero Albion Hamlin on a wide-ranging journey from his home in Portland, Maine. Young attorney Hamlin first travels to Boston to defend a newspaper publisher on trial in 1798 for violations of the infamous Sedition Act. The judge turns out to be the Federalist Samuel Chase (future Supreme Court justice and enemy of President Jefferson), the novel's first black-hearted villain. While there, Hamlin falls in love with a portrait of Lydia Bailey and sets out to find her and save her inheritance from an unscrupulous cousin. This quest takes Hamlin first to Philadelphia (still the US capital in 1798), where he meets the novel's central villain, State Department functionary Tobias Lear. Nearby, Hamlin meets botanist John Bartram. Further plot twists take him into the middle of the Haitian Revolution and on to the Mediterranean, ending up in Tripoli on the eve of the first Barbary War. Along the way, he meets good guys Toussaint Louverture and William Eaton, along with bad guys Charles Leclerc, Yusuf Karamanli and William Bainbridge The five criteria:

1. Did the novel inspire me to further historical research?

Yes. Many of these historical events were relatively unexplored by by historical reading, so the novel opened up some new vistas. Score = 4

2. Did the novel include enough history to make it an interesting historical story?

Definitely. As noted above, Roberts' clever plot manages to bind many geographically remote historical events into one story. Score = 4

3. Was the depiction of historical events accurate?

Pretty much. As with virtually all historical novels, there's a certain amount of exaggeration for dramatic effect. I found no outright fabrications or willful distortions. Score = 4

4. Was the depiction of historical characters accurate?

Characters are always more subject to the novelist's manipulation than events. Roberts, as noted in the opening section above, uses that sort of artistic license to fit characters into his good vs. evil sort of historical outlook. He did plenty of research, however, and included a brief list of sources at the end - always a plus in my scoring system. Score = 4

5. Would I read another novel by this author, continuing in this historical period, with these characters (or new ones)?

Unfortunately, I've just about reached the end of Roberts' novels, and he won't be writing any new ones. I wish there were more. Score = 4.

'Northwest Passage' by Kenneth Roberts (1936)

After finishing Rabble In Arms, I thought I was done with Kenneth Roberts for a while. Then I discovered that my local library had a copy of Northwest Passage. It's main historical character is Robert Rogers, creator of 'Rogers' Rangers'. This irregular force of colonial soldiers fought alongside the British army in the French and Indian War (1754-63). Rogers specialized in Indian-style forest tactics, as opposed to the strict British open-field formations that proved disastrous in the early stages of the war. In Rogers, novelist Roberts found another example of a brilliant leader and out-of-the-box thinker who was opposed and dragged down by the jealousy and envy of lesser men. Ayn Rand made her literary debut ten years later with another hero in this mold, in The Fountainhead. So, when reading Roberts, one should remember that the historical characters were almost certainly not as heroic or despicable as their fictionalized counterparts.

The novel's title was the quest undertaken by Rogers after the war. Thwarted by his enemies, Rogers got no further west than Fort Michilimackinac (at the strait between Lakes Huron and Michigan). His life after that was a series of ups and downs, ending in alcoholism and destitution. Roberts' fictional main character is another man from northern New England, named Langdon Towne. Towne is a relative of the fictional Nason family of Arundel, and shares a friendship with the irrepressible Cap Huff. Towne becomes one of Rogers' Rangers and an aide to Rogers himself. He is thus in a position to observe and comment on the leader's actions. The fictional Steven Nason had a similar relationship to Benedict Arnold in Arundel.

The five criteria:

1. Did the novel inspire me to further historical research?

Yes. I haven't read much on the French and Indian War, so this novel opened up some new territory. Also, Roberts used some recently discovered (at that time) material about Rogers' career to flesh out his account. An author's note referred to a bibliography, which unfortunately was not included in the edition of the novel that I found. I always love it when historical novelists include bibliography. Score = 4

2. Did the novel include enough history to make it an interesting historical story?

Yes. As usual, Roberts includes a wealth of historical detail. Score = 5

3. Was the depiction of historical events accurate?

Yes. Roberts is always scrupulous in adhering to historical facts. Only his interpretation of those facts might be questioned. Score = 4

4. Was the depiction of historical characters accurate?

As noted above, there is undoubtedly some exaggeration to make the 'good' characters better and the 'bad' characters worse. This tendency made me wonder, at times, whether a particular historical character really did something he does in the novel. These are, however, always minor actions that don't contradict known facts. As long as the reader keeps that in mind, it's not a big problem. Score = 3

5. Would I read another novel by this author, continuing in this historical period, with these characters (or new ones)?

Definitely. I just found Lydia Bailey, and will read it soon. Score = 5.