This book can lay claim to being the classic Revolutionary War novel for North Carolina. At the start of the novel the main character, John Fraser, is a young everyman from the pine woods. After he is given the opportunity for an education in Edenton, he becomes a gentleman, loyal to the Crown and a bit of a ladies’ man. Johnny hears the complaints of the colonists and sees the English exercise their authority with arrogance, but he feels only confusion, not a real change in his loyalties. Only when he crosses the ocean to live in London does his political allegiance shift. Fraser does a favor for John Paul Jones and later joins Jones aboard the Bonhomme Richard. When he returns to North Carolina, Johnny is a strong Patriot and ready to settle down with his first and truest love.
A later edition of the book has illustrations by N.C. Wyeth.
Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.
Interesting book, I read it and recommend it to anyone who likes Revolutionary War novels.