NO SMALL THING

Coyle dramatizes the early events of the Revolutionary War in this historical novel.

The war is on, and everyone must decide where they stand. Blacksmith’s apprentice Anthony Carter made his choice early: The 16-year-old militiaman was one of those who fired on the king’s soldiers as they marched back from Concord to Boston, and he helped defend Breed’s Hill until the ammunition ran out. Farther south, Edward Shields is the heir, on his mother’s side, to one of New York colony’s great mercantile dynasties…that is, if his family’s property makes it through the war intact. It’s hardly a sure thing, given that his loyalist father is seeking to win the crown’s favor by joining the British Army. Edward, a born rebel and member of the Liberty Boys, has decided to join the conflict as well—though not on the same side as his father. Lady Katherine Trent, a rare businesswoman of the era, has loved ones on both sides of the conflict; her unorthodox career has given her no love of the status quo, and she harbors a deep belief that “long shots had a habit of paying off, provided one was willing to set aside their fears and persevere.” A Scottish frontiersman, a French military observer, and a loyal British soldier help fill out the cast of characters, all of whom discover that the smallest decisions can take on the towering weight of history. Coyle renders the calculations of colonial Americans with greater nuance than one normally associates with tales of the Revolution: “That a day of reckoning was coming was never in doubt…more uncertain...was what the cost of victory would be, even to those who had allied themselves with the winning side.” He deftly weaves his characters through events of the first year of the conflict—up to Washington’s crossing of the Delaware—in a way that somehow makes the outcome seem in doubt. Readers will not only feel transported to the time period—they will see it anew.

An engrossing account of history on a personal scale.