A Partial Sun
Here we are, friends, with an Author Page, nimbly constructed and ably managed by Julie Bromley of Signed Books & Stuff for the express purpose of announcing the publication of my historical novel, A Partial Sun. Since this project began nearly ten years ago as a sculpture, before morphing into prose, I am very happy indeed to bring it at last into the light of day!
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The first book in The Tinsmith’s Apprentice trilogy, “A Partial Sun” follows the young slave Isaac Granger in the fall of 1790 from Thomas Jefferson’s plantation at Monticello to Mr. Bringhouse’s tin shop in the bustling heart of Philadelphia, where his training and transformation begin. Torn between loyalty to his master, the lure of a risky freedom offered by African-American mentors, and the counsel of a Quaker girl, Isaac struggles to find himself. It is a story recounted by Isaac himself as an old man to the Reverend Charles Campbell, who published it finally in 1855 for the "edification and entertainment of the reading public." |
Purchase your copy here:
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That Dazzling Sun
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"That Dazzling Sun," Book 2 in The Tinsmith's Apprentice trilogy, continues the vivid coming-of-age story of Isaac Granger, slave to Thomas Jefferson, begun in Bechtel's debut novel, "A Partial Sun." In that book, Isaac begins his complicated apprenticeship at age fifteen as a tinsmith in Philadelphia in the fall of 1790. In this second book, Rachel Bringhouse, the tinsmith's daughter and Isaac's tutor, sails off to England to work alongside the famous social activist and poet, Hannah Moore. She writes enthusiastic letters to Isaac which he answers with assistance from George Washington’s irrepressible cook's helper, Ovid. Meanwhile, Billey Gardner, the feisty and opportunistic former slave of James Madison, pesters Isaac with notions of a business partnership; the charismatic Dr. Cornelius Sharp uses Isaac to confront Jefferson as a debt-ridden slaveowner; and the Reverend Richard Allen provides Isaac with a copy of Pennsylvania’s “Gradual Abolition of Slavery Act.” When an exuberant Rachel returns from England with a key insight and Isaac's hated nemesis Daniel Shady reappears, the book rises to its climax. Isaac must gather his power and bargain on his own terms with “Old Master.”
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Purchase your copy here:
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