The Sparrowhawk Companion

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:

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.

* * *

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 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.