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CALICO AND TIN HORNS by Candace Christiansen

CALICO AND TIN HORNS

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Pub Date: Sept. 1st, 1992
Publisher: Dial

The most interesting thing about this book is the incident that inspired it: an 1844 Boston Tea Party-style rebellion of Hudson Valley farmers against landlords still dishonoring their predecessors' promise to sell land to Revolutionary War veterans. In Christiansen's dramatization, young Hannah is curious about her parents' mysterious preparations and the gatherings of masked neighbors, costumed in calico. Summoned by a fin horn, the men have ridden away when she spies the sheriff and his troop and saves the day, calling the farmers hack with the horn; in a bloodless encounter, they win the sheriff's support against the Van Rensselaers. The narration here is straightforward but unexceptional, while Locker's beautifully wrought oil paintings are romantic set pieces that contribute little to its flow. Still, a valuable footnote to history, handsomely presented.