The World Has Never Been a Fair Place, But Kindness Always Makes it Better: A Guest Post From Laurie Halse Anderson

Being an author of historical thrillers is very much like being a fourth grader. I spend a lot of time researching my topics, I stare out the window daydreaming more than I should, and lunch is the highlight of my day. Especially if it involves tater tots.
The research for my latest book, Ashes, the final book in my Seeds of America trilogy, took me to far-flung libraries and archives and led to all kinds of discoveries.
I became an expert on rattlesnake encounters and the taste of roasted possum. I kissed my washing machine and dryer after learning what women had to do to clean clothes in the 18th century. I read the letters of star-crossed lovers, angry generals, and cranky Congressman.
I unearthed military records and personal journals, studied the uses of willow bark tea, and was gobsmacked by the toileting habits of the Continental Army during the siege of Yorktown. I shuddered with horror at the fate of smallpox victims driven out of York by the British. I marveled at the courage of the American and French soldiers who dug trenches while being shot at by British artillery.

Once I understood the facts of what happened in 1781, it was time to give the story a beating heart. I had to figure out how my fictional characters—Isabel, Curzon, and Ruth—could fit into the real world of long ago.
The details of people’s lives were different back then, but some things never change. Teens fall in love, they care about their friends, they make mistakes, and they try to make amends. Sometimes ‘family’ describes the people you are related to by blood and sometimes it’s the people you are related to by spirit. The world has never been a fair place, but kindness always makes it better.
I set about weaving their story of love, survival, and freedom into the larger narrative of America’s struggle for independence. After finding Ruth in South Carolina, the heroic trio make their way North to Williamsburg, VA where the combined American and French armies are preparing to lay siege to the British.

The chaos of the American Revolution provided tens of thousands of enslaved Americans with the opportunity to liberate themselves. Some historians believe as many people freed themselves during the Revolution as did during the years of the Underground Railroad. Twenty years of research into our nation’s founding has given me a profound appreciation of the sacrifices made by Americans who had to fight for their personal freedom, as well as that of their new nation. Their example of intelligence, strength, faith, and community is one for all Americans to know and take pride in.
Ashes, the final novel in the Seeds of America Trilogy, is on B&N bookshelves October 4.