The Sparrowhawk Companion
THE
SPARROWHAWK
COMPANION
edited by Edward Cline and Jena Trammell
ebook ISBN: 978-1-59692-949-4
M P Publishing Limited
12 Strathallan Crescent
Douglas
Isle of Man
IM2 4NR
via United Kingdom
Telephone: +44 (0)1624 618672
email: info@mp-publishing.com
Originally published by:
MacAdam/Cage
155 Sansome Street, Suite 155
San Francisco, CA 94104
www.MacAdamCage.com
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Copyright © 2007 by Edward Cline
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
The Sparrowhawk companion / edited by Edward Cline and Jena Trammell.
ISBN 978-1-59692-261-7
1. Cline, Edward. Sparrowhawk series—Handbooks, manuals, etc.
I. Cline, Edward. II. Trammell, Jena.
PS3553.L544Z459 2007
813′.54—dc22
Paperback edition, December, 2007
ISBN 978-1-59692-262-4
Book and jacket design by Dorothy Carico Smith
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface by Jena Trammell
Critical Perspectives
“Selling Sparrowhawk, or Sundays with Ed” by Robert Hill
“The Appeal of Sparrowhawk Book One: Jack Frake” by Dina Schein
“Sparrowhawk’s Heroic Vision of Man” by Jena Trammell
“‘He Was There’: The Tragedy of Roger Tallmadge” by Nicholas Provenzo
“The Ways, Means, and Ends of Sparrowhawk” by Edward Cline
“The Revolutionaries” by Edward Cline
“Lacunæ and Artistic License” by Edward Cline
Reference Materials
Sparrowhawk Character, Ship, and Plantation Staff Lists
The Political Speeches of Sparrowhawk
Chronology of Acts of Parliament and Royal Decrees Concerning the American Colonies, 1650-1775
Eighteenth–Century British Currency
A Sparrowhawk Glossary
Sparrowhawk: A Selective Bibliography
PREFACE
In 1993, Edward Cline moved to Yorktown, Virginia, to pursue his life’s ambition of writing a novel about the origins of the American Revolution. The publication of The Sparrowhawk Companion is a testament to Cline’s literary achievement and the success of the Sparrowhawk series. Sparrowhawk Book One was published in 2001; the final volume, Book Six, was published in 2006. Sparrowhawk has far surpassed early sales predictions to become one of its publisher’s best-selling titles.
Cline receives letters from Sparrowhawk fans around the world and of all ages, and he frequently spends weekends signing copies of Sparrowhawk for visitors to Colonial Williamsburg. The idea for the Companion was inspired by the large number of questions Cline receives from readers who desire to know more about the historical background of Sparrowhawk, or the author’s views on literature, or the author’s writing processes. Sparrowhawk readers will find interest in Cline’s essays on literary composition and inspiration, as well as useful reference guides to historical sources, British currency, Acts of Parliament and Royal Decrees 1650-1775, a glossary of eighteenth–century terms, and an index of formal names of characters and ships in Sparrowhawk.
The contributors to the Companion believe that Sparrowhawk deserves recognition for its literary quality and philosophical depth. The opening chapter is Robert Hill’s “Selling Sparrowhawk, or Sundays with Ed,” which discusses Sparrowhawk’s significance as a work of historical fiction. Dina Schein’s “The Appeal of Sparrowhawk Book One: Jack Frake” explains the fascination that the novel has for readers young and old. My own essay, “Sparrowhawk’s Heroic Vision of Man,” examines Cline’s characterization of heroes Jack Frake and Hugh Kenrick. Nicholas Provenzo offers an analysis of a morally conflicted character in Sparrowhawk in “‘He was There’: The Tragedy of Roger Tallmadge.”
The Sparrowhawk Companion marks the first work of literary criticism on Cline’s novels. As the popularity and sales of Sparrowhawk continue to rise, readers can be assured that additional works of criticism and scholarship are already in the planning stages.
Jena Trammell
July 2007
SELLING SPARROWHAWK,
OR SUNDAYS WITH ED
by Robert Hill
“I don’t read fiction,” I have heard my customers at Williamsburg Booksellers tell me. “I only read real history!” Fair enough. I only read real history myself. But Edward Cline’s Sparrowhawk novels, as I try to explain, abound in real history, telling the story of the development of the American Revolution in a way never before attempted.
The special province of the historical novelist is to make clear to the reader why people do what they do. The very best narrative historians cannot, for instance, convey with sufficient power and intimacy the depth of resistance to an Act of Parliament. The only way to understand such things is if they become personal. When we witness events through the eyes of characters we have come to know and whose fate is of intense interest to us, there are epiphanies, moments when we say, “Oh! That’s why they were so angry at revenue agents!” Maxims like “no taxation without representation” just do not carry the same dramatic weight.
The challenge for a bookseller, therefore, is to suggest a work of historical fiction that will provide equal parts enlightenment and entertainment. I assure readers that Ed Cline is very serious about setting the background of his stories. Ed has an extraordinary grasp of eighteenth-century culture on both sides of the Atlantic, which allows him to move easily among the Houses of Parliament, colonial legislatures, great English manor houses, Virginia plantations, docks, taverns, and meeting places of all descriptions. He never loses sight, though, of the novelist’s first imperative: to tell a good story. Jack Frake (introduced in Book One) and Hugh Kenrick (introduced in Book Two) are truly memorable characters. Their lives, after each finds his way to Tidewater Virginia, intertwine during the years leading up to the American Revolution, and each takes a different path toward what they know will be a thunderous clash; tragic, bloody, and necessary.
* * *
I met Edward Cline in 2002. Sparrowhawk Book One had appeared on the shelves of our store upon its debut in late 2001. The cover has a nice picture of ships, though one soon discovers that this is not a seafaring series. (There are enough of those.) The description on the back cover drew my attention:
Bringing a new perspective to the events leading up to the American Revolution, Sparrowhawk, a series of historical novels, establishes that the Revolution occurred in two stages: the war for independence and a more subtle revolution in men’s minds many years before the Declaration of Independence.
Book One in this new series introduces the reader to life in eighteenth–century England, where rumblings of discontent amongst the citizens with government and Crown begin.
I thought that if Mr. Cline could tell the story of how and why this “subtle revolution” happened and just where these “rumblings of discontent” would lead, well, he would have done something no one else has. John Adams famously remarked that “the war was no part of the revolution. The revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people.” But how do we in this century relate to these events? How do we bring all of the powerful emotions—the fear, anger, frustration, and of, course, the dreams, the excitement, and the most profound hope—into our own minds and hearts? How do we deepen and broaden our understanding of the revolutionary process and the men and women at the center of it? Ed Cline’s answer: write a novel. Or a six-volume epic. The form of the novel, in a
sense, exists for this purpose.
Ed has succeeded brilliantly. His work represents a Colonial Williamsburg bookseller’s delight because it illuminates as well as the written word can so many of the issues, conflicts, and changes facing late eighteenth-century Virginians and which today are brought to life again on the very same streets and in the very same buildings. Visitors to our store see a wide variety of material which can occasionally overwhelm, but few if any books offer greater insight than Sparrowhawk into the roots of the Revolution and the idea of America.
* * *
SUNDAYS WITH ED
At Williamsburg Booksellers we have sold thousands of copies of Sparrowhawk since its premiere in 2001. No store anywhere has sold more, and no other series of books sells nearly so well. This is a result of two factors: staff members have read and appreciate Sparrowhawk (they “get” it), and they sell it with enthusiasm. In fact, there are times when discussing Sparrowhawk with customers that we talk about Jack Frake and Hugh Kenrick (and other characters in the series) as though they are real people. This is truly extraordinary. It is a tribute to Ed’s talent and his controlled use of artistic license. He has woven the lives of his fictional characters with those of historic persons, and is faithful to the record. His characters live and act among the likes of Patrick Henry, Peyton Randolph, Thomas Jefferson, and George Washington, and lock horns with Virginia’s Royal Governors Fauquier, Botetourt, and Dunmore. This makes them real.
The other and, of course, more important factor in the success of Sparrowhawk at Colonial Williamsburg is the presence of the author himself to meet readers and sell and sign books. Ed has appeared at Williamsburg Booksellers many times, becoming something of a fixture on Sundays and holidays. His two-table setup always includes a highly visible and well-worn Betsy Ross flag, which helps establish his purpose and always attracts visitors. He opens dialogue with a trademark “Do you read historical fiction?” This works well because either answer, yes or no, elicits further conversation, and the more conversation, the more likely a sale will occur. Ed will also offer to the skeptic (“Are you really the author?”) a photo I.D.—his picture on the book. Ed has also become adept at handling a type of reader all authors have encountered: the one who wants to instruct, nitpick, and argue. He has come to know that frequently they will buy.
Ed wants people to become Sparrowhawk readers for reasons beyond the obvious desire to generate bookstore sales and subsequent royalty payments. He wants readers to see what he sees and think differently about colonial resistance to the policies of the British Empire in the 1760s and 1770s. He chose to be a novelist because it is the only way to flesh out the story, to make it immediate, passionate, and personal. He can create a scene such as the following one in Book Six, which involves an exchange in the Virginia House of Burgesses between Edgar Cullis, a member loyal to the King and his Ministers, and Hugh Kenrick. The matter in question is a petition sent from the British ministry to the colonies in 1775: “Edgar Cullis kept his promise, and argued that Lord North’s proposals were a gesture of friendship, affection, and charity, and that their rejection would amount to criminal ingratitude.”
After a number of other burgesses speak their thoughts on the British proposals, Hugh Kenrick rises to respond:
“This ‘Olive Branch’ is but a jester’s scepter, all frills and bright ribbons and noisy bells. No man worthy of the name would accept it as a gift of friendship. Do not forget that, in olden times, the court jester alone could mock a sovereign with impunity. Are we kings who would tolerate such mockery, or men? This proposal that we bleed ourselves at Parliament’s behest mocks our intelligence and seeks to suborn our quest for liberty!”
This passage perfectly distills the Sparrowhawk spirit. Is there an instance that such a speech was ever made? No. It is a product of the author’s imagination, informed by a close examination of the historical record and fired by the need to tell a story that will have relevance and permanence.
Sundays with Ed will continue because they are profitable and enjoyable. We will set new sales records again this year and look at higher goals for the future. The market is awash with historical novels, and we at Williamsburg Booksellers are happy to promote those of merit and marketability. There is little doubt, though, that Sparrowhawk will retain its position as a top seller because, as we know, there is real history in those six volumes.
THE APPEAL OF
SPARROWHAWK BOOK ONE: JACK FRAKE
by Dina Schein
One would expect a story whose hero is a ten-year-old boy to appeal mostly to children. One would expect a story set in a historic era to appeal mostly to history buffs. Yet Sparrowhawk Book One: Jack Frake has a large fan base of all ages—“between early middle school up to retirement”—and of a large span of professions—“there’s no real common denominator in the professions.”1 What are the reasons for Sparrowhawk’s wide-ranging appeal?
We can find a clue to the answer by looking at how this novel differs from other stories with juvenile heroes. The action of many such stories centers around childhood fantasies; for instance, Peter Pan is about three children’s magical flight from the real world into Neverland. Their young characters typically act very much their age by engaging in silly antics. Their concerns largely revolve around issues that are confined to a narrow age group, such as playground games with other kids, trouble with the teacher, or fights with parents over household rules. For these reasons, such stories typically do not hold the interest of adults.
With this in mind, let us look at Sparrowhawk’s subject matter. The action in this novel is far from fantastic or childish. Jack Frake, a boy in eighteenth-century England, runs away from home in order to escape being sold into slavery by his mother and her lover. Jack eventually joins a group of men who run a business. They purchase food and other goods from those who produce them, and sell these products to merchants. The British crown imposed high taxes on all merchants’ goods, which in turn caused widespread corruption, the ruining of merchants, starvation of the poor, and frequent executions by hanging for minor offenses. The men of the group that Jack joins smuggle in goods and avoid the taxes, thus making it possible for the common people to afford necessities. For this, the smugglers are branded as outlaws and relentlessly hunted to be hanged.
The life of Sparrowhawk’s young hero is dissimilar to the one that most children today experience. Nor does Jack behave in the way that most children do. Most children today are supported by their parents and enjoy many hours of leisure. Jack is on his own from age ten, supporting himself by working in a tavern and rooming house from dawn until night. As we follow him through that period of his life, we see that these activities, far from stealing his childhood and committing him to a backbreaking life of drudgery, make his life exciting and are a major source of his developing knowledge. Ask most children today to name what they like to do; typical answers would be things like playing video games and hanging out at the mall. Most prefer recess to class. Jack thirsts after knowledge, paying out his hard-earned shillings and pennies for an education. The responsibilities of most children today are confined to such chores as taking out the garbage and feeding the family pet. Jack participates in nighttime smuggling trips, rowing a boat through stormy sea waters, and carting boxes all night long. Between such trips he stands on guard duty. We are shown that it is Jack’s unusual childhood and his exposure to the men who are his comrades in danger that serve to develop his moral character and help him mature to healthy manhood.
Jack is more mature than today’s children—and quite a few adults. Sparrowhawk examines serious issues, such as the right to free trade and, more broadly, the proper purpose of government. It is this novel’s important themes and mature characters that captivate adult readers.
Why then does Sparrowhawk Book One appeal to children as much as it does to adults? Issues like free trade are remote from children’s knowledge and interests. Further, the novel’s action takes place centuries ago and in another country, a
time and place too removed from most of today’s American children’s experiences and concerns. Its hero Jack is also substantially unlike them.
Because the novel presents its serious and complex messages in the form of an exciting, suspenseful adventure story. A young reader can experience the excitement of living in hiding with a group of smugglers and evading their corrupt pursuers. He can watch Jack and one of the smugglers, who serves as Jack’s friendly much older brother, successfully defend themselves and a group of others at gunpoint when their coach is stopped by armed robbers. He can accompany Jack on his first trip to much-longed-for London. He can enjoy the respect the young Jack gets from men substantially his senior, as they treat him like a man, and he can see that Jack deserves it. A young reader can learn the real meaning of brotherhood and experience the pleasure of watching morally excellent persons. A reader, young or older, can be inspired by the actions of true heroes and imagine that he is one of them.
Even though Sparrowhawk’s main character is a child, and even though its story is set a few centuries ago, the ideas that motivate Jack Frake and the novel are just as important for an adult and for current times. We do not live in the eighteenth century, and most of us have never dealt with smugglers. Yet the novel deals with such questions as: “Should I fight for what is right in the face of opposition—or is it better to be a docile conformist?” (The novel accepts the first of these and rejects the second.) “Is it possible to be a heroic individual or does each of us have inescapable pockets of corruption in his or her moral character?” (The novel accepts the former and rejects the latter.) If the former is true, “What should I do to become an excellent person?” (The novel shows us.) All of us—adults and children alike—confront these questions in some way in our own lives. Their answers are of great practical concern.